It's What Partners Do
by ALZkeytuch
Summary: The partners are still at it in this AU version of the Caskett courtship. Kate and Richard are not alone; partner dynamics abound with drama aplenty Relax Caskett shippers, they eventually get there, but the journey is a rough one. It's sometimes said: 'It takes a village' to keep things straight. Picks up where first 'Partners' left off. Enjoy the adventure.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: I stayed firmly within the Castle Universe and leaned heavily on canon in my first story 'In Death Do Us Partners' but now it's time to stretch one's wings and try something original regarding the plot. So here is the beginning of an AU version of the Caskett relationship; and while there will be some homicide case related incidents, there will also be more detail of lives outside the precinct. BTW, my thanks to: 'bingblot', 'purple satin', 'P2P', 'castlefan6', and some others for their inspiring examples of AU plots._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Castle – all credit goes to Andrew Marlow and the writing team for ABC's Castle; my thanks to them for providing a foundation for this little exercise._

**Chapter 1**

"Castle! Watch out! You almost hit that thing . . .", came Kate's hoarse voice, almost drowned out by the roar of the engines at full throttle and the loud staccato of rain against the canopy.

"What thing?"

"That channel marker thing . . . that buoy with the red light."

"What side was it on?"

"On our right . . . I mean starboard."

"Ah good, and you don't have to be nautical with me, I'm no sailor", exclaimed Castle as he took only the smallest comfort in remembering the boating axiom that when in the channel it was the three R's: 'red – [on the] right – [when] returning; but otherwise he was terrified and returning to where, he did not know.

_I'm going to get us all killed! How did I ever get myself into this mess?_, he thought to himself as the boat was being tossed violently amidst the swells. They were in Bradford's boat, something Castle remembered being referred to as a Grande Tourismo 46, with the 46 meaning it was forty-six feet long. It may as well have been the Titanic it felt so darn big, and with the current situation, he felt like Captain Edward John Smith, and the resting place of the vessel by the end of the afternoon would be at the bottom of Long Island Sound.

They were pretty darn far from home port. Castle's down the beach neighbor, Bradford, had suggested a boat outing at least once during the summer and Richard and Kate had decided to take him up on the offer this time around. So, the four of them, Kate, Richard, Laura, and Bradford pulled out of the slip off of North Haven around 11:00 for a day of cruising the waterways around the extreme eastern tip of Long Island. They had passed through the gap between Orient Point and Plum Island and were heading mostly due west when both Bradford and Castle had seen the slight change in the western sky.

Bradford had always liked his beer and was usually very good at holding it so as not to call undue attention to himself, especially from the Coast Guard patrol boats, which were the nautical equivalent of police cruisers handing out citations for driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Yes, one could get a heavy fine for piloting a boat while under the influence but now Bradford was way beyond that. Richard and Kate had been on the rear deck, enjoying the sun and breeze, while inside the cabin Bradford and Laura had become involved in a marital spat, so much so that Bradford had decided to drink way more than the usual number of beers to the point of nearly passing out and becoming completely incapable of piloting the boat. Laura was not the type who could just step in and take the helm; she had only assisted her husband with only the most menial tasks while they were entering or leaving the slip and she was completely unsure how to navigate or handle the craft at the speed they were presently going and in the storm they were presently experiencing. So, the task had fallen to Richard, who only had the most meager boating experience, which was about that of Laura's – helping with little items while leaving or docking, taking the helm while the captain/owner of the vessel went to get more refreshments or to relieve himself, but that was only under the best of conditions, with no appreciable wind and calm seas. His present situation was the exact opposite leaving the inexperienced 'Captain' to a combination of things sure to lead to disaster: uncertainty as to their exact position, unfamiliarity with the channel they were now entering, swells between eight to ten feet, strong gusty winds, and torrential rain that was reducing the visibility to maybe thirty feet at best. As far as summer thunderstorms went, this was one of the bigger ones and there was no sign of it letting up any time soon. Castle remembered that if he could aim the bow to hit the swells diagonally, the pitching wouldn't be so severe, but he also had to keep to his side of the channel; nevertheless, he couldn't imagine anyone wanting to go out to open water in this kind of weather when everyone else was trying to head in as fast as possible, and that was the other problem. The channel felt like a section of the Long Island Expressway during rush hour.

Meanwhile, with the marital spat forgotten in favor of getting back to shore alive, Laura had laid her husband out on one of the benches and made a makeshift tie-down so the pitching would not cast him to the deck face first. Then she joined Richard and Kate at the helm to see if there was anything she could do.

"Yes, please . . . could you and Kate put your heads together and check the readout on the GPS against the chart? Is there any inlet or marina near us? I don't know what these channel markers mean."

After a long minute, Laura responded: "No, I don't see anything here . . . everything seems to be on the south side . . . there might be some private docks along this side, and I'm sure the owners wouldn't mind us using one given the situation. . ."

Meanwhile Kate had been doing her best to study the chart in search of anything that would give them an opportunity to tie up or drop anchor but trying to focus on the fine print amidst the tossing motion of the boat gave way to the inevitable bout of seasickness. She could feel lunch wanting to escape and made a valiant effort to keep things under control.

The response did not calm Castle's terror one bit and his side glance at Kate only made things worse; she looked horrible. He knew he couldn't dock the boat even on a calm day, and he didn't even know the minimum depth he needed to keep from running aground, and the last thing he wanted to do was wreck his neighbor's boat. To his relief, among the chaos of vessels, he thought he spotted a Coast Guard cruiser further up the channel.

"Kate could you and Laura get the emergency kit please?"

"Castle, what are you going to do? You know we could get fined for this", Kate managed to reply without losing her lunch.

"Yeah, I know, but it's better than sinking the boat . . . so Kate, just fire the damn flare, please." He figured that Kate, even in her condition, had experience with fire arms so the flare gun would be second nature; whereas Laura would probably be afraid to pull the trigger.

Later that Saturday evening, after the storm has passed and the sun had set, they arrived at the Montauk, Long Island Coast Guard Station with the boat intact but with damaged egos and hefty side order of embarrassment, yet grateful for the intervention from people who knew what they were doing. Nevertheless, Bradford was probably going to have some explaining to do.

"What's the demurrage", Castle asked the Coast Guard official after they had docked and safely unloaded, "because none of us can get this vessel back to home port tonight." Everyone was happy to hear that they had twenty-four hours before tie-up and towing charges were to be assessed. Castle arranged for ground transportation to get both couples to their respective destinations.

As they were waiting for the cars to arrive Richard asked Kate what she wanted to do, at the same time suggesting that a hot bath followed by some chamomile tea might be the plan for the evening and apologizing for the botched afternoon.

"I know this didn't really fit the template of a relaxing afternoon in the Hamptons, but I swear I'll make it up to you" he muttered.

"No, it didn't. Castle, I think it would be best if you take me home tonight."

"Home? . . . As in the beach house?"

"No, Manhattan . . . as in _my_ apartment in the city", Kate replied quietly but firmly.

Kate's answer came as a shock, but he didn't argue. When the car pulled up, they got in just as the were, and asked the driver to take them into central Manhattan by the fastest route possible. Castle felt really bad about how the weekend had gone; however, his concern was now focused on Kate because she was definitely not herself and he could see she didn't feel like talking about it. She just sat in her seat looking kind of dazed. One thing he was glad to see was that after about forty-five minutes into the trip she dozed off, which was a good sign because she never dozed off in the company of strangers, so at least she trusted him to get her back home.

About twelve hours after the adventure had begun, Castle returned to the loft, saddened and confused. He didn't know why Kate had insisted on being taken to her own apartment rather than enjoy a hot bath at the loft. The place was quiet meaning that either Martha was still out or had gone to bed earlier than usual. He didn't venture upstairs to find out; rather he went to his office, but on the way there poured himself a glass of scotch, then sat down at his desk to see if he could clear his head and make sense of what all had happened. It all felt like something that might have happened in one of his Derrick Storm novels, but Derrick Storm was no more, so maybe this was all a bad dream and he'd feel better in the morning.

He knew it was late, it was a summer weekend after all, yet he didn't hesitate to call his other beach side neighbor to see if their daughter could go over to his beach house and make sure things were back in order; perishable stuff disposed of, and everything turned off, and locked up since they had left in a rush. Having taken care of that, he opened his laptop and called up the latest manuscript of his yet to be titled Nikki Heat novel. In the notepad section, where he kept his ideas, he began to write . . .

"Look Nikki, I haven't been bothering you lately, I haven't published anything with your name in it recently, I haven't been meddling in any of your homicide case files or crime scenes, and yet we seem to have a big problem between us. I mean, I can think of the things I haven't been doing so what is it that I _have_ been doing that's got you so mad at me?" groaned Rook as he heard Nikki's terse voice answer his call. He knew it was aimed at him thanks to caller ID.

"Listen Jameson Rook, I've told you before that you just can't breeze in and out of my affairs . . . my life . . . on your schedule. I've got things to do too so I wish you'd give me a little more notice before you show up at the precinct. The Captain's had just about enough of it and that means I've had just about enough of it."

"Well, I can't necessarily control where and when my assignments take me out of town and for how long for that matter. I mean is it any different with your murder cases? You don't hear me complaining about your schedule. If you're available – great; if not, I guess I'll have to wait, or do without seeing you."

"Maybe you'll have to do without seeing me for a while. Listen I have to go. Let's talk about this later, I promise. Goodbye," Nikki concluded, and the call ended message appeared.


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: We know that Richard and Kate have had their share of miscues and misunderstandings. Were they truly that or the result of some of Kate's mean-spirited designs? I decided to mix in some moody Kate Beckett. She has good reasons this time, but Rick doesn't know that yet and no inkling of how far reaching it's going to get. I want the two to have the kind of buddy-to-buddy talks that most normal couples might have; the kind of things that explain certain behaviors seen in the series and expressed in canon, but were never seen, only implied, maybe. This chapter starts the set-up for a number of things coming._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Castle – all credit goes to Andrew Marlow and the writing team for ABC's Castle; my thanks to them for providing a foundation for this little exercise._

**Chapter 2**

Sunday morning dawned bright and hazy; not that Castle would have noticed, since he slept till about ten-thirty. He would have much preferred the experience of a new day to have taken place in the Hamptons with Kate Beckett either still sleeping at his side or rummaging around in the kitchen. As he awoke, he noticed the computer still on the nightstand where he apparently had set it, also still in the 'sleep' mode to conserve the battery, which is something he should have done much sooner during the night than he actually did. Then he remembered he had dozed off somewhere near four o'clock in the morning. After an attempt to get himself more or less civilized, he found his phone and sent a text to Kate: 'Sorry again for how things turned out yesterday, hope you're not [still] mad at me.' He figured he'd get a return ping while he was fixing brunch for himself, but brunch came and went and still no reply.

He figured that if texts weren't going to get the job done then a voice call probably didn't stand a chance either. Around noon, he decided to call the number at the precinct and by the way it rang, he could tell it rolled to another extension.

"NYPD 12th precinct, Agent Karpowski speaking," the familiar voice answered.

"Wow, how professional", quipped Castle as he heard her voice. "I guess there's only a skeleton crew in there today."

"You've got that right", Karpowski quipped in return, "but keep your skeletons to yourself Castle", she continued, using only the last name, which had become a custom among the homicide teams and the supporting staff.

"Well, speaking of skeletons, I've checked my closets and found none; which means I've got a problem. Do you know where Detective Beckett might be; have you heard from her today?"

"Yes, I know part of the answer", Karpowski replied cryptically, just to pull Castle's chain a little bit, as well as to determine the degree of closeness in the relationship, because she, like every other woman working in the 12th precinct who had met Richard Castle, shared the common opinion that they were indeed in the good company of a ruggedly handsome and successful man. "I've heard from, or rather, I've heard about Kate this morning."

"Do tell, Karpowski", pried Castle.

"Well, what I can tell you is this: Kate _and her team _were called out for a case involving something very nasty that went down in Central Park. Precinct 22 decided to ask for our help this time since they've transferred some to us in the past."

"Well, that's because they know we specialize in the really-off-the-wall, twisted ones . . . I think they should consider that payment enough . . . that we took some messy ones off their hands," he said as he thought to himself: _just as well that we came back last night since Kate would have responded to the call and demanded that they come back to cover the case anyway. I just hope she woke up this morning feeling better than last night._

"Sorry Castle," Karpowski continued, "I don't have any more details than that. They took off outta here around nine o'clock this morning. Don't know where they went exactly, and as you well know, Central Park is a big place."

After he concluded the call, Castle glanced at the readout behind his desk for his little personal weather station that he had installed on the rooftop: ninety-two degrees already, and humidity at eighty-six percent. It looked like it was going to be another hot and uncomfortable afternoon in NYC with an opportunity for yet another thunderstorm.

As if provoked by the attention being paid to the objects on the credenza, the cell phone began to ring. Castle jumped for it, first by the surprise of the sudden sound, and second with the hope that I might be Kate Beckett; however, his spirits dove and then soared when he saw the caller ID.

"Hello daughter!"

"Hello father", came Alexis' familiar and cheerful voice.

"Did you have a relaxing time up state?", he asked, already knowing the answer by the sound of her voice.

"Of course I did. So now I'm ready to tackle the fall semester; and when I get home, I want to talk, and I mean serious talk dad, about what I want to do for graduation."

"Alexis, sweetie, you're only starting on your fall semester with the required classes, and you already want to talk about graduation? I mean, isn't that rushing things a bit? After all, life should be fun. You should take some time to savor this part of your life; you know, maybe share in some of those adventures that you won't be able to tell your children about."

"Dad! We've already talked about that . . . back at the final Derrick Storm book launch party, remember I told you that I thought you had experienced enough of those for the both of us. No, the reason I want to talk about this now is because it's going to take some time to get everyone together, or at least try to get everyone together, and you know how hard that can be.

"Which tells me you want your mother involved this time. How do you hope to pin her down firmly enough to make sure she shows up?"

"Well, that's the point. I figured that with enough advanced notice, and enough reminders of just how important this will be to me, and that it will only come around once, because who knows if I'll go on to graduate school or not; just maybe I can get a real commitment.

"OK, pumpkin, it's your plan. I wish you all the best with it. Just remember, all of that applied to your high school commencement and you saw how that turned out. And yes, I promise to give whatever it is you have in mind my full attention and commitment."

"OK, thanks dad. Maybe I'll see you later tonight, but you don't have to wait up for me."

Since Alexis had been gone for so long and Richard had been feeling lazy in a domestic sense, the loft needed some basic cleaning and maintenance. Apparently, Martha hadn't found any motivation in that department either, so he began with his bedroom and office. He could have called in someone to handle the task, but it was a weekend after all, so he decided that he could tackle it himself for a change. The work slowly expanded to the living room and the kitchen, but as he was tending to the somewhat mindless tasks his brain was churning out scenes from the events leading up to his daughter's graduation ceremony. He remembered how distraught she had become in her attempts to compose a decent graduation address to the class but also how beautiful, in character, and heart-felt it had turned out; and how he had not known at the time that Kate Beckett was hanging from the side of building ready to fall to her death; and how it seemed that all of that had happened like it was just yesterday. And that was exactly what worried him. A very important slice of his life had slipped by almost unnoticed, unappreciated to the degree it should have been; and the two people he cared about more than anything in the world seemed to be caught in the current which carried the experience ever further down the stream of time.

After the physical work, he figured that some time at the computer doing some writing might be a form of rest if not a way to kill time till Alexis came home or Kate Beckett decided to call or send a text. He went back to the notes section and added some more Heat and Rook dialog. . .

"Nikki, how long have we known each other?", Rook asked seemingly out of nowhere.

"Rook, why did you have to ask that right now; can't you see I'm in the middle of something?"

"OK Nikki, maybe we'll talk later; but I've been thinking how many times our intentions to talk later have been thwarted, interrupted, or otherwise forgotten. Time's going by Nikki, no, it's flying by and someday it's gonna be gone for us."

That was enough. He needed to get out of the loft. Sunday night or not; Alexis arriving or not; he decided to take a trip over to the Old Haunt. Anything for a change of scenery and hopefully a change of mood.

_A/N: To be Continued . . . looks like it might extend to 18 or 20 chapters. Outline looks promising. Hope you all enjoy the ride._


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: It's sometimes been noted that Javier Esposito acts as Kate's big brother; and we find him in that mode in this chapter. The set-up for a number of things continues. One thing I wanted to try with this exercise was to show that Esposito has come to respect Richard Castle; and has always been entertained by Castle's unique ability to put Kate into a tizzy (as seen frequently by Espo's expressions and side glances in the series – 'this is going to be more fun than shark week')._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Castle – all credit goes to Andrew Marlow and the writing team for ABC's Castle; my thanks to them for providing a foundation for this little exercise._

**Chapter 3**

It was only around seven o'clock in the evening when Castle hit the street outside of his building; and that meant nearly two solid hours of light left, not that Manhattan became anything near dark after sunset. He had only taken note of that fact because he was still thinking about Alexis' return trip to the city. He would be very glad to see her again although he knew full well that she was completely grown up and the ever-growing independence as well as the absence from the loft were in line with a perfectly normal progression of events; nevertheless, he couldn't shake the terrible feeling at how fast time seemed to be flying by. Signs of it were everywhere; it had leaked into his writing, the relationship with his daughter, and the relationship with Kate Beckett most of all.

He concluded that the only way to shake off the burden of that body of thoughts was to make a surprise visit to the Old Haunt. Perhaps a discussion of how the business was going would be enough to take his mind off the other things for the evening. The mental vacation began with the taxi ride to his destination since the cabbie was one of the talkative types, which was something that never bothered Castle in the least.

The mental vacation didn't last long. He had barely passed through the door when the head bartender and one of the patrons took note of his presence; and as if in response to some undetectable signal, two individuals got up from their seats and began to converge on Castle's path. The shift supervisor got there first, followed by Javier Esposito a couple of seconds later.

"Good evening gentlemen", began Castle, ". . . if there be any present", he concluded in response to Esposito's antics of pretending to look around for the referenced 'gentlemen'. "Hey, Espo, good to see you here . . . just let me have a few minutes with Ed here, then I'll join you." Esposito nodded agreement and began the return journey to his booth. _This was what I had in mind when I left the loft, but somehow now it isn't,_ he thought to himself, as Ed ushered him over to another booth to discuss a couple of pressing issues regarding the business.

"Hey Ed, what's on your mind?" inquired Castle as they were heading to the quietness of the booth.

"Oh, nothing bad. Just wanted to tell you that shipment of special-order whiskey is going to be delayed at least a week, so I took the liberty of holding off on the window displays until we actually get the stuff in hand. You never know if the demand is going to be immediate."

"Thanks for the update Ed, you know I trust your judgement on that kind of stuff. Anything else pressing?"

"No not this evening," replied Ed knowing that Castle's surprise visit wasn't to be spent talking only business concerns; there was plenty of time for that during the monthly review, and the rest could wait.

Castle bade Ed a good evening and began to make his way over to where Javier Esposito was sitting with another uniformed officer from the 12th precinct. "Good evening men . . . and neither of you had better start looking around for where the 'men' are seated, or this is going to be a very short conversation", Castle quipped as he approached the booth.

"Richard Castle meet Carlos Hernandez, he's been with the 12th for about five months now . . . Carlos, meet Richard Castle, a consultant friend of mine, famous writer, and owner of this place", Esposito elaborated with a touch of pride in his voice.

Carlos' face brightened considerably. "Wow I sure know the name, the Derrick Storm series, correct?" said Carlos, getting up and extending his hand in greeting.

"Correct you are", replied Castle, "and thanks for coming here tonight . . . you're welcome here anytime."

They chatted about all things NYC for about another forty-five minutes or so; meanwhile, Castle ordered them a couple of rounds on the house – whatever they wanted—no matter how old, how reserve, how rare, or how expensive; if it was in stock, it was theirs to try. Despite Castle's urgings, his guests only opted for the moderately pricey stuff. Carlos reminded them that it was a Sunday evening, and as much as he would have liked to stay out late, he had a wife and son that needed some attention before Monday rolled around again. He thanked Richard profusely and bade everyone a good evening.

"Hey Espo, I have a question for you", Richard began after Carlos had made his exit, "what went down in Central Park this morning?"

"Nothin' good, I can tell you that", responded Esposito in a somewhat lowered voice so as not to call undue attention to their new topic of conversation. "Besides, I can't really talk about the details."

"Aw come on Espo, you can tell me", whined Castle.

"Well, yes I can . . . just not right here, it's sensitive stuff."

"Okay, then why don't we grab a couple of drinks and head down to the office, there's less noise and a lack of sensitive ears that might pick up data they're not entitled to hear."

Castle motioned to the bartender to set up one more round of what they were already drinking; and to set it at the side of the bar near the doorway leading to his office. As the drinks were being placed per instructions, Esposito and Castle intercepted them, as if they had practiced this routine a dozen times before, and discretely exited the barroom.

After they made themselves comfortable Castle was all ears, hoping that the report would contain the desired data regarding Detective Kate Beckett yet at the same time keeping his mouth shut so as not to tip off Esposito as to the degree of his anxiety.

"Well like I told you it was nothing good. The captain of the 22nd got hold of Gates around nine o'clock this morning, and by nine-thirty we found ourselves in patrol cars heading up to the northwest corner of central park. The crime scene was in a fairly heavily wooded area behind some landmark called 'The Blockhouse'. It's way up there near 108th street or something like that, I don't remember exactly because Ryan was driving. I tell you, it was bad man. Looked like some kind of revenge attack crossed with a ritual killing. The poor woman's body was marked and partially dismembered, so it's obvious we still don't have a positive ID. She had no personal effects on her at all. I guess the reason the body was found so soon was because several people who were walking their dogs in the area all got a weird reaction from the dogs, compared notes, and decided to call 911 about it, because they take that route all the time and nothing like this had ever happened before."

"So, you, Ryan, and Beckett all had to go?"

"Yeah, and we had to team up with two of their detectives . . . um, a Jason Sanders, and a Pete Johnson . . . two of their top guys; at least Beckett seemed to be impressed with them.

"How did Beckett seem to you in the morning?" 

"She didn't seem to be completely her normal take-charge self; I was surprised she left everything to Sanders, and Ryan looked at me and whispered: 'is she all right?' And it got worse from there. After she had seen the body, she got really quiet and just followed Sanders' and Johnson's lead. I mean, she was still noting details, and participating but not like the way we know Kate Beckett back at the 12th."

At hearing the last part, Castle could no longer conceal his worry.

Esposito put on one his quizzical looks as he studied Richard Castle for a few seconds. "You really care about her . . . really lover her, don't you Castle?", he finally managed to express what had been crossing his mind.

"It's that evident to the whole world, huh" Castle replied, his words mixed with a heavy sigh.

"Castle!", Esposito interjected in a somewhat terse manner, which he used when he wanted to make sure he had Castle's full attention. "It's been evident to me that she became someone special to you ever since you found your way back into the precinct with Captain Montgomery and some help from your friends in high places; you know, after that case where the brother murdered his own sister and a couple of other people just to get the full share of his father's money. And what's more, you've managed to keep getting Kate to agree to your 'tomorrows', and to stay on as a consultant with Captain Gates in charge . . . so that's really saying something."

"Oh, there was much more to it than just the father's money . . . I'm just glad Kate got the point and we ultimately got the right guy. Hey, speaking of the team, where is Ryan tonight? He couldn't take a few minutes away from Jenny to unwind?"

"Nah, he couldn't make it. He and Jenny had something special planned for his mother-in-law today, so you can imagine how worked up he got when we found ourselves heading up to Central Park for the day. We finished most of the field work by three o'clock or so, and he dropped me and the car back at the 12th and then took off immediately. But it's not over. We're on the case until it's solved."

"So where is Kate?"

"I'd put my money on Kate still standing in front of the murder board on the 3rd floor of the 22nd precinct if I were you. I still don't know what's going down at the ME's office. I haven't heard from Lanie or anybody else for that matter", Esposito concluded.

"She goes into that 'all work and no play' mode pretty often doesn't she? I mean . . . well, observing her that first month or so in the precinct . . . I've never seen anyone acting so hard-ass, and by the book . . . except Captain Iron Gates.

"Ha, no more so now than since when I've first known her; in fact, maybe a little bit less since the two of you have become an item. But I can tell you this, when something in her personal life is bothering her, you can bet an all-nighter in the office with an overdose of police issue coffee is lurking around the corner."

"Couldn't agree more", replied Castle, then he fell silent.

He reached for his nearly empty glass, and while slowly drawing the last sip began to think. _Damn, what's wrong? Is she sick? Yeah, maybe she got sick . . . but then why force herself to work? Is she that mad at me? It was only an innocent day out on the water . . . why didn't she tell me beforehand that she didn't want to go . . . we could have stayed at my little strip of beach and been just fine . . . but I thought interaction with some of the neighbors would be a change of pace. After all, everyone we meet there seems to offer us an invitation to join them for something. . . cookout, glass of wine, dinner somewhere, their pool, their boat; whatever, I'm not trying to force anything, not trying to show her off to everybody . . . just didn't want to leave the impression that all we do when we go there is isolate ourselves from the world. . . sit on the beach, eat, sleep together, and then go home. I go there to isolate myself from the world when I really need to get some writing done, but Kate does not have to be part of that; why does everything have to be so complicated?_

"Castle, you still with me? I can tell you this much, she's _always_ kept her likes and dislikes to herself. Doesn't matter what, whether it's food and drink; personal activities, superior officers, you name it. Like the time we decided to compete as a team: her, Ryan and myself, for the police benefit dinner and show. We came up with an act and started refining it over the course of a week; and she was completely on board with it, until she tripped over Ryan's foot one evening while we were practicing in the interrogation box after everyone on day shift had left. The next day she told us she was out. . . no other explanation, said she just couldn't do it anymore, so she was out."

"I though it was common knowledge around the precinct that Kate's idea of a relaxing evening was a hot bath, good book, and a glass of wine."

"No bro . . . that's common assumption only. It's what we made up to convince ourselves that we weren't missing out on visiting any wild clubs with her after the shift was over. That's back when Ryan was still single, and she was a rookie . . . well you get it."

"Well, at least she likes my books", Castle remarked.

"Again bro . . . she likes most of your books, especially the Derrick Storm series, but I'd be careful with that Nikki Heat series, if I were you. . . she doesn't like the cover art and how quickly the public has connected Kate Beckett the cop with Nikki Heat. I mean that week when Natalie Rhodes came in to practice being Nikki Heat, and when she put on the same type of clothes and the wig with the same hair type as Beckett; Wow, I've never seen her get so agitated when she saw her own mannerisms being amplified and exposed to the public.

"Everyone's mannerisms are exposed to the public Espo."

"Not the point bro. You might as well have posted pictures of Beckett in a hot red string bikini and red stiletto heals doing a brass pole dance on the 'snap-o-matic' website; and you would have gotten pretty much the same reaction. I'm surprised she wasn't done with you for good after that."

_Oh, that would be cool _Castle remarked to himselfas the mental picture became fully clear, but an instant later, it also seemed to him to have become repulsive. He was beginning to understand why.

"Do you suppose that maybe it's all added up, and that she' had enough of it, and maybe she _is_ done with me for good?", Castle wondered out loud.

"Nah, don't think so bro . . . she mentioned something about wishing to have you on the case this morning, but that was before she saw the body. Well, listen here, the case is not over yet and tomorrow's another day back at the 22nd; I certainly hope the ME's office will give us something more to go on. And Castle, thanks for your hospitality; and thanks again for being concerned about Kate. Good night."

"Glad we could talk Espo. You guys stay safe out there, OK? Hey, send me a text and let me know how things are going, and if I can help."

Castle's taxi ride got him back to the loft around ten thirty. He decided to give Kate a break and not call her as he had pulled out his phone to check the time. Besides, if she were standing in front of the murder board as Esposito had supposed, she would become annoyed that the phone interrupted her train of thought.

The loft was still dark; neither Alexis nor Martha had arrived home yet. He went to his office and tried to write. As before, he opened the folder to the notes section and was about to add a few lines regarding Jameson Rook thinking about Nikki Heat as the one who might get away, but then he stopped abruptly, and closed the file as his mind flooded with images of those last weeks with Kyra, and later after they had lost touch for many months, that she was the one who had gotten away – not from Rook who didn't even exist yet in his mind, but from him. He was beginning to have that same sick feeling about Kate. He went to get a glass of the same scotch he had been drinking at the Old Haunt, sat in the semi darkened living room, and waited for Alexis to come home.

_A/N: I had a brief vacation in Ocean City, which allowed me to get chapters 2 and 3 put together pretty quickly. The next one will take a little longer. To Be Continued. Let me hear some feedback. I'm new to original plot development. Where do you think this might be going?_


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: Time to shift gears. But remember, we're in an AU version of things. Let's see what Lanie has been up to . . ._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Castle – all credit goes to Andrew Marlow and the writing team for ABC's Castle; my thanks to them for providing a foundation for this little exercise._

**Chapter 4**

Richard Castle finished his breakfast alone. Despite the late-night welcome home conversation with Alexis, she was up and out very early as was Martha this morning. As he entered his office, he glanced at the calendar; here we are beginning the 3rd week in August, he noted. The summer vacation season was rapidly ending; yet the botched weekend in the Hamptons felt to him like weeks ago in one sense, and like yesterday in another. It felt strange to him that all of the women in his life were simultaneously occupied with other things; Alexis with return to class preparations; Martha with the theater instruction; Kate with the case in Central Park; and Gina, in radio silence for a change, working on the review of his latest submittal for the next book. He had somehow found the time over the last couple of weeks and delivered several more chapters than had been required for the latest deadline.

Another thing that made this summer different from the months prior was the change in staffing at the ME's office. At the beginning of August, Dr. Perlmutter had announced he was accepting his early retirement offer from the department and would be gone effectively the first of September; although he wouldn't be off the payroll until the end of September since he still had four weeks of paid vacation left in the bank. It had been a rough summer for everyone involved with the ME's office since Dr. Parish had first taken her vacation in the Bahamas for two weeks but cut it a couple of days short to make an emergency trip back home to Louisiana when news reached her that her father had suffered a mild stroke. She had requested an emergency leave of absence from the department and had spent the last six weeks or so helping her mother and father. The good news was that her father was recovering very well and was back to ninety-five percent of the functionality he had before the ordeal. But this unexpected event had left Dr. Perlmutter as the senior member in charge of the morgue and the rest of the staff felt the results of his heavy-handed way of running things. The news of his retirement was received with silent cheers. Most of the members of the CSU and those in the 12th precinct, since they were the closest to the ME's offices, also said 'amen brother' when the news spread to their departments.

Lanie received the news via text from one of the staff members so she wasn't surprised about Perlmutter when she returned to work around nine o'clock that Monday morning; looking through the round glass window of the swinging doors to her workplace she found everything business as usual with one exception, the morgue was a bit more crowded than normal because a couple of new personnel were being given an orientation tour. But the most curious development was the one giving the tour was also new to the department, or at least, new to her.

"Good morning everyone," she called out as she pushed the doors open.

"Oh, Lanie! You're back,", replied a couple of the long-time staff members almost in unison. One of them continued: "I'd give you a big hug dear, but my hands are a mess at the moment, please take a raincheck."

The tour guide took the hint as to her identity and approached Lanie with the two newbies.

"Dr. Parish, please allow me the pleasure of some introductions; and by the way, welcome back. I was told to be expecting you today. I am Dr. Francisco de Torres, this is Miss Martha Rosenbloom . . . our new lab technician, and this is Dr. Larry Morris, our new ME who will be taking the place of Dr. Perlmutter. Martha and Larry, meet Dr. Lanie Parish."

The newbies returned the greetings and expressed their pleasure at meeting a new fellow worker with such a positive outlook.

"It's only positive because I've had a much longer than normal vacation", Lanie explained, "Oh, and by the way, Martha, I'm also Miss Lanie Parish, and one of my best friends, Miss Katherine Beckett, works in the next building over at the NYPD 12th precinct. We girls have to stick together in this shark tank", she concluded with a subtle wink to Martha. The men had no choice but to grin and bear it.

"Your reputation proceeds you Dr. Parish. Several of the homicide teams in the NYPD speak very highly of your work, and the CSU says you're a joy to work with when you're out in the field", remarked Dr. De Torres.

"Well, if you've already met Dr. Perlmutter here in the office, then multiply the attitude by times one hundred when he's in the field, and then you'll see why they say that by comparison", whispered Lanie. Then she raised her voice to normal tone and asked: "Where you from Dr. Morris?", since she had detected a southern accent similar to her own.

"Born and raised in Franklin County, outside of Pine Bluff, Arkansas", the young doctor replied respectfully.

"Well how'd ya get up this way?", questioned Lanie.

"Well, to make a long story short, my grandfather used to do taxidermy when I was growing up, and I used to help him at it. Got really interested in biology in high school, and won a scholarship to NYU medical school, and now here I am", effused Dr. Morris. I'd just like to say that I think working with the folks at the NYPD is going to be so cool. I can't wait to get started.

_OMG he thinks working with the police department is going to be so cool – just as bad as Richard Castle. I can't wait to see what happens when the two of them get going . . . No, what I really can't wait to see is Beckett's face when the two of them get going . . . I gotta keep the cell phone camera at the ready, _Lanie voiced to herself as a wry smile crossed her lips.

"I'm sure you can't Dr. Morris, and just to let you know, we've got a civilian consultant over at the 12th precinct, who shares your enthusiasm in working with the NYPD. Oh, and another thing, you're not going to need taxidermy skills so much here. We only examine and prepare our subjects – never get them ready for public display.

"Of course, Miss . . . I mean Dr. Parish", agreed Dr. Morris.

"And Miss Rosenbloom, how did you end up in such a cheery place as this?", Lanie inquired as she turned slightly to face the young woman.

"I haven't come from very far away. I've lived in the Bronx ever since I was little, and like Dr. Morris, I just loved biology in high school. Just finished the two-year degree in technical school, and now I'm here."

"I don't know . . . some folks consider the Bronx a foreign country", teased Lanie.

"Yeah getting here in the morning feels like an overseas trip sometimes to be sure", Miss Rosenbloom teased back.

Lanie smiled broadly at the remark, and subtly mouthed the words 'we'll talk more later'; and then turned her attention to Dr. De Torres, and as she did, her smile intensified to about a thousand watts.

"Dr. De Torres, I guess quite a bit has gone on around this department while I was gone, I don't recall ever hearing your name before."

"It's because you haven't Dr. Parish. I just transferred here at the beginning of the month. I've spent about six years or so with the ME's office in Rochester. In the short time I've been in Manhattan, I can say I like it very much. I'm filling in for Dr. Willis while he's on an extended leave of absence, and when he returns, they say there is still room for me for something permanent", Dr. De Torres explained.

"Oh, so you're up in the records department", Lanie supposed.

"Yes, for now. But they're waiting on approval for a new position, something called Manager of Morgue Operations, I don't' know . . . something like that. At least it will require something more of what I can contribute" he replied. "Well it was a real pleasure to meet you Dr. Parish, here is my card. Let's talk again soon, OK? . . . If you need anything, just give me a call. . . Come on you two, let's finish the tour. . ."

_Hmmm, easy on the eyes for sure . . . Lord, I hope that new position doesn't make him my boss . . . that could make the future soooo complicated _Lanie thought as she watched the group examine one more station and then exit the morgue. She examined the business card. It had all of the necessary data, including his cell phone number. At least she could send him a text later.

Lanie called Kate's number but it rolled to Karpowski's desk. Seeing that it was an internal extension calling, she answered: "Secretary Karpowski for the Beckett homicide team, how can I help you?"

"Wow, Karpowski, very professional", Lanie teased back. "How have you been doing?"

"Ah, you know . . . same-o-same-o. By the way, glad to hear your voice, and glad to have you back. It's been a while. . . I'm sure you're looking for Beckett, and the reason you've got me is because the whole team is up at the Central Park precinct helping them work a case. . . pretty messed up from what little I've heard. They're on it until it's done. . . that's all I know for now."

"Thanks, Karpowski, and if I know anything about Kate Beckett, I won't be hearing from her until she's done with the case."

"You've got that right", Karpowski replied, "bye."

Karpowski was not one to withhold important and time sensitive information. When she hung up the desk phone, she reached for her cell phone and sent a group message to the homicide team: 'Lanie's back and asking how you guys are doing. Have a good day.'

CSU and the five-member homicide team had been over the crime scene from top to bottom three times over. There was just nothing else to be found. The perp had been very meticulous and covered his tracks well. The only break in the case was the cross reference against missing persons reports in the last forty-eight hours, which listed the daughter of a very wealthy and influential gentleman with an address on the upper east side. Kate noted that it was not all that far from Castle's building. The team could not figure out why nothing had come back from the ME's office yet. Were they that backed up? Having received the text about Lanie, they held out hope that the extra hands would yield faster results; nevertheless, Kate asked Sanders and Johnson if it wouldn't be a good idea if one of the team went back downtown to see first hand what the hold-up was. Kate was hoping that since it had been her idea she would be the one to go, but to her dismay, Ryan and Esposito were asked to update Captain Gates, and visit the ME's office in person to find out what was going on.

They finished briefing Gates around three-thirty PM and headed over to the morgue to find Dr. Parish.

When they got to the swinging doors, each one looked through one of the windows, found Lanie alone, and started making stupid faces until they got her attention. She gave them a look deserving of the idiots they were pretending to be.

"_Hola chica, muy bienvenido de nuevo_", exclaimed Esposito as he sailed through the double doors.

"Oh, I guess you guys missed me or something, and Espo, English please", stated Lanie as she looked up from her paperwork.

"Hey, all I said was a great welcome back again", Esposito translated.

"Yeah, we did miss you. . . at least a little bit", chimed in Ryan. "Listen, Lanie, we can all do some catching up at the Old Haunt or someplace later this week, but right now this murder investigation has got us in a bind. ME techs should have brought a Jane Doe in here Sunday around midday, and here it is late Monday afternoon, and we don't even know where she is on the to-do list", Ryan concluded as Esposito nodded in agreement.

"Hold on guys, I may be able to help you", said Lanie as she began to dial Dr. De Torres' extension.

"Dr. De Torres, good afternoon. . . you told me to call you if I needed anything. . . well, I need a favor. I need to find out what's going on with a Jane Doe the techs should have brought in here around midday on Sunday. She was from a crime scene in northwest Central Park. Detectives Sanders and Johnson from the 22nd precinct have the lead on the case", explained Lanie in her business tone, but with a little more southern drawl and honey sweet mixed in than usual.

They all waited in silence while Dr. De Torres investigated the situation.

"They what?", exclaimed and questioned Lanie, while the two detectives immediately shot her looks of concern as she spoke. "Well, that's just great, now what are we supposed to do? . . . but thanks ever so much for letting us know. . . bye."

"Someone came and claimed the body, had dental records in hand, and blood type ID, which were a match to the vic. Told the department they were going to use a private contractor to perform the autopsy. So, we had no choice but to release her. Now all we can do is wait for _their_ report", Lanie explained. "Well, the good news is we have an ID on the vic. Our Jane Doe is really Diana Susan Sturdevant, daughter of Martin Sturdevant, III. She lived on the upper east side."

"Oh boy, she's on the missing persons report", Ryan muttered as he pulled his cell phone to call Beckett.

_A/N: To be Continued. It gets crazier as we go on. I wanted to find a way to vote Perlmutter out of this universe and mix in a few new characters._

_For those of you who are wondering about Alexis' and Lanie's activities before these chapters, you can find a brief update in the Epilog (Chapter 21) of 'In Death Do Us Partners'._


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: Does it seem to you in real-life that a bunch of small, stupid things seem to add up to a situation where you find yourself either depressed or mad at the world for no apparent reason? I wanted to capture that feeling on paper. It happens in this AU also._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Castle – all credit goes to Andrew Marlow and the writing team for ABC's Castle; my thanks to them for providing a foundation for this little exercise._

**Chapter 5**

Almost a week had slipped by since Alexis had returned to the city; she had been subconsciously aware of its passing amidst the whirlwind of activity she had crammed into the time remaining, yet she was still somewhat shocked when she saw the date on the email she was composing. It had been some time since she had opened her laptop (the mobile phone had not enjoyed that kind of rest). Only a week till Labor Day, and the day after that classes started anew. She looked over what she had written.

_Sent: Monday, August 27, 2014 9:46 AM_

_To: Meri_one36 vz~.net_

_From: ACastle-n-da-sand_146 st~.net_

_Hi Mom,_

_Hope you are doing well, and that your latest project is turning out to your satisfaction. Please drop me a line or two and let me know what you're working on. Promise I won't leak anything. I know you haven't heard from me in a while, but that's because I was upstate with my friends after summer session. I wanted to get all of my required classes out of the way, which I did, so then I took a couple of weeks to myself outside the city for a change. So, the big news is that I've declared my major: Marine Biology, can you believe that? I'll tell you a little more about how I arrived at that in a future email. I've got only two semesters of the specialty classes to go plus field camp, which could very well be anywhere in the world. It's sponsored by NOAA. _

_And that's the reason I'm writing about this NOW. Mom, I know you've been very busy; and I know that we're both sorry that my high school graduation didn't work out for you, but this time I'm giving you a YEAR's notice about my expected graduation date. It would mean very, very much to me for you to make this one. I may not go on after that . . . just don't assume I'll go for a master's and a PhD. I've studied like crazy all my life up to this point. It's getting old. I want to go out and do something with my life. I mean, you're following your passion. I'd like to go out into the world and follow mine. I've talked to dad (a little bit anyway) about this and he's on board with it. He'd like to see you there too. I'll send more details when I have them, but keep the end of August 2015 open, PLEASE._

_Yours always,_

_Alexis_

She wrote a similar one to Gina. It was events like the one she was planning that made life seem strange at times, having had two moms already, and possibly a third by the time she graduated. She took a moment to reflect on everything that had led up to her present situation. She had tried to be the model child having realized somewhere in her early teens that daily life and the routine being run by her dad was harder than it looked. He had tried to make it look easy, but now she understood that emotionally it had not been the case for him. They had never lacked for anything material, but the intangibles, the stability of a healthy partnership, those had been ever elusive, and she had seen those rare times when her dad had been just too darn tired, feeling too vanquished, to keep his guard up. She just wanted her dad to be happy again; not that he didn't have a positive outlook on life in general, but happy with a lifetime partner – one that would stay – always. If her dad could be happy like that, she was sure she could be happy too; just by being happy for him.

That left the potential third 'mom'. As soon as she had walked into the loft after her trip upstate she had noticed that her dad seemed more tired than usual. She knew that look. It was the look of distress and doubt, brought on either by writer's block or by trouble with Kate Beckett; usually it was both. Soothing it over with glasses of scotch only appeared to help; and was a trend that Alexis did not want to see becoming part of his daily routine. He had always been the party-boy, the big celebrant, the all or nothing kind of guy, but habitual drinker – never. She decided a personal call to Kate Beckett would be better than an email.

"Dad, have you heard from Kate recently?" she yelled in the direction of his office as she heard the voicemail prompt for Kate's number.

"No sweetie, I haven't. I'm not sure what's going on. She's on a pretty nasty case. . . for some reason it's hush-hush", he replied while still sitting at his desk.

"At the tone, please leave your message. . ." the speaker issued Kate's recorded voice.

"_Hi Kate, it's me, Alexis. I just wanted to touch base with you, and to tell you I've missed seeing you for most of this summer. I was upstate unwinding after summer session. . . but the reason I'm calling is because I wanted to talk to you and Dr. Parish about something I'm planning next year . . . it's important, and I wanted your opinion on some things, as well as giving you plenty of advance notice. Hope to hear from you soon. Bye."_

The atmosphere in the interrogation box at the 22nd precinct was downright intense as Kate Beckett and Jason Sanders were working the latest suspect for a confession. They were sure it would come soon enough, but the information they really wanted was who he had been working for, the one who had made him an offer he couldn't refuse. The suspect was the typical low life; the kind of person who could be convinced to do just about anything if he considered the price to be right. He sat there, dirty, unshaven, wearing clothes that looked like he had slept in them and hadn't changed them in days; his eyes narrowed, and his face contorted by a severe look of contempt.

Meanwhile detective Pete Johnson and a uniformed officer from the 22nd went to search the suspect's apartment, having obtained the necessary warrant just an hour before the man was brought in. That left Ryan and Esposito, each with another uniformed officer, to finish the canvass of the neighbors sharing the upscale building with Mr. Martin Sturdevant III and his daughter. They also checked with Mr. Sturdevant's second ex-wife regarding any change in his routine of late. She was not aware of anything having changed since they had not been on talking terms for many months and he had not tried to contact her over the past few days. She did follow his business activity however and had some inside information regarding a big merger that was being planned, and maybe that had something to do with the sad change of events. She was terribly upset to learn of her step-daughter's death; it appeared that they had been rather close during her marriage of about ten years.

The canvass turned up some more information via a couple of the neighbors with apartments closest to the elevator. Both remember hearing Diana Sturdevant's voice in the hallway the early morning of her death. She had apparently met someone unexpected as she entered the elevator, but that was all they could relate since when they stepped into the hallway to see what was going on, the elevator was already on its way down. One neighbor called the elevator back to their floor and noted that whomever Diana had met was probably no good because the car smelled strongly of body odor and marijuana smoke and there was nobody like that who lived in their building.

The clothes, the smells, and the evidence found in the suspect's apartment placed him squarely in the perpetrator's box. Finally, the investigation as to the money trail connected him as a murderer for hire singled out of a group of employees working a cargo hauling division of the company that was going to be involved in the potential merger with Mr. Sturdevant's company. Apparently the CFO of that company took things very personally after his stock options fell apart when Mr. Sturdevant suddenly halted the negotiations for the merger, so he decided to make Mr. Sturdevant pay dearly for it. The case closed by late morning.

After Kate and her team finished briefing Captain Gates around lunchtime, they entered the bullpen to find everyone milling around, waiting to welcome them back. Karpowski reminded Kate that she was owed a few favors for playing secretary while they were gone. Everyone acted like the team had been gone for a month, and in some ways, it had felt that long. But what felt longer still was the absence of an opportunity to talk with Lanie. Kate excused herself as soon as she could and headed downstairs to the tunnel that joined the precinct with the ME's offices.

"Well look who's back", remarked Lanie as she looked up from her work to see Kate pushing the doors open. She got up immediately and headed in Kate's direction.

"I could say the very same to you", responded Kate as they gave each other a hug. "How is you dad coming along?"

"I'm happy to say he's doing pretty well now. They've got his blood medicine adjusted correctly, and I went over everything with a fine-toothed comb, so I'm fairly confident things should be OK for a while. And thanks for asking, but girl, how have _you_ been doing while I was gone?"

"Oh, about the same", Kate responded in a less than enthusiastic tone. "But you, I've already heard a rumor that you met somebody interesting, and it wasn't on any vacation in the Bahamas", she concluded sounding way more upbeat.

"Been talking to Karpowski again, I see", Lanie replied. "But that's all it is, just a rumor. . . so don't start putting hopes any higher than mine are right now. Besides, how has the summer been with writer boy?"

"Oh crap, that reminds me, I have to return a call to writer boy's daughter. She left me a rather important-sounding message, oh, and by the way, it includes you too", Kate interrupted. "Give me just a minute to call her back before it gets forgotten again."

Lanie looked on with great interest as Kate dialed Alexis' number. "Hi, Alexis, sorry it took me so long to get back with you, I was on a case, oh and by the way you're on speaker, and Lanie is here."

"No problem, my dad mentioned that to me. I was just wondering when you, me, and Dr. Parish could find some time later this week to talk about some future plans I have—that's all. You can text me some dates when you're sure of them. I'll understand."

"Of course, Alexis, we'd be happy to see you", Kate replied as she glanced at Lanie for agreement. "We'll let you know ASAP. . . If you're dad is home, could you tell him to meet me at Remy's for lunch in about forty-five minutes?"

"He nodded 'yes'", Alexis replied.

"OK, thanks Alexis, hope to see you soon. . . bye."

"You know girl, we've been through all of this before . . ." sighed Lanie. "Something's not right between you and writer boy – again."

"Yeah, I know all too well," replied Kate, somewhat irritated with herself, as she recalled some of the previous conversations that took place in Kate's, then Lanie's apartments, and in the morgue as well, and here they were in the morgue once again.

"Then, why can't you pay attention?"

"I . . . I don't know. It seems that when we go through things together, everything looks so easy; and everything is so clear . . . and then, the next day or the next week comes and it all becomes so complicated again."

"Complicated? . . . Really? . . . Hey, you want complicated, try dating a psychoanalyst or somebody like that."

"God, Lanie . . . please don't tell me you've been on a date with Dr. Burke!"

"Relax Girl, I've never been on a date with him. Frankly, I don't know if he's even married. Well, did you see any pictures of wife or family anywhere in his office when you visited . . . I mean, come on, you're supposed to be the detective. And besides, he wouldn't talk about any of his patients on a date, even if it happened to be me."

"Hmmm . . . so, who are you dating these days?" Kate pried again. "If this latest mystery man is only a rumor, do you have any hopes at reconnecting with Espo?"

"Espo! . . . are you kidding me? You were talking about complicated. Espo was not complicated at all. We saw a spark, we fanned it into a flame, and then it sputtered out – not complicated at all. Besides, we're talking about _your_ relationship here . . . why do you always try to sneak out of the important part of the discussion?"

"Ok, Ok, I get it . . . it's just that . . ."

"Just what? . . . The last time you started that line, it was after you got mentally derailed by one of Meredith's comments she only made in passing . . . and you read way too much into it. It was her faded memory, and you took it and made into your roadmap. I mean, come on girl, stop overthinking stuff."

"I guess I really don't get it, then."

"Look, Dr. Burke _knows_ how to help people; and you've only half-listened to him; Castle _cares_ about you more than anyone on the planet, and that's saying something cuz Alexis and Martha come in a very close second and third; and you only half-listen to him even when he's serious; and I _want_ to help you just as much as anybody . . . what more can you ask for? Where I come from, they say 'God helps those who help themselves', you know, so start helping yourself."

"Lanieeeee," Kate whined, "you know I've tried to listen to everything you've said, and I've tried to make it work. But things never seem to come out right."

"Look, listening is different than really paying attention. Girl, someday you're gonna have to take the training wheels off, taxi out to that runway and take off, and then straighten up and fly right, and I don't mean just fly, I mean you gotta soar," continued Lanie, "and I don't care if Castle calls me out on the mixed metaphors," she added after the fact.

"You ever date a pilot?" asked Kate, as she recalled the conversation they had about Castle and her being in a holding pattern, and where Lanie had convinced her to 'go for it'.

"Naw, must be throwbacks to my younger days. I used to like to watch the crop duster planes come and go at the little air strip not too far from where I lived. Anyway, you get the point, don't you?"

"Yes."

"Good. Then here's what you do . . . you _wait_ for Richard Alexander Rogers to show up again, and you _tolerate_ Richard Castle in the meantime. I mean, it was you who told me about that one morning you made the realization, so like I say, help yourself . . ."

"Ok, got it," Kate replied, as she turned to leave. "Lanie. . . it's so good to have you back!" Kate concluded and turned around and gave her another hug.

Kate Beckett was consumed with personal thoughts, scenes from the case they had just closed, past scenes with Richard Castle, the last trip to the Hamptons with him, the conversation with Lanie she had barely concluded only fifteen minutes prior, so her all-business expression hardly softened when she spotted Castle seated in one of the rear booths at Remy's. The expression, and its lack of change, was not lost on Castle as he looked up and saw her enter.

"Well, how are you? How was the case? And why so stingy with the phone time?" blurted Castle as she sat down across from him.

"Hi Castle" was all she said for a moment, as she reached across the table and grabbed his hand. "That's a whole bunch of questions, do you want me to answer them in order, or just as I think of them?", she tried to tease him.

"Sorry Kate . . . didn't mean to ask so many at once. . . it's just that I've been worried about you . . . and about us. Things just didn't end well at the Hamptons. I'm very sorry for how it turned out. . . and then on top of that you got called in the next day for an investigation; and for some reason, I got cut out."

"Look, Castle, I didn't have control over that investigation. They asked us to keep outside contact to a minimum because there were social, business, and political issues going on that they didn't want leaked to the press. Apparently the vic's father is a very influential man. He even had the autopsy performed by a private contractor, so we didn't get any information back from our ME's office; we had to wait until the contractor was ready to release it to us. That in itself was frustrating. So, Castle, it wasn't all about you this time. . ."

"Ok, I get it. But you could have at least sent me a text or two or three. . . and what's the deal? You called Alexis before you called me? She was the messenger. . . I mean I've been wanting to talk ever since the Sunday before last."

"Rick! I didn't want to talk about it. I didn't want to talk about _anything_. After I saw the vic, how she was dressed, how she looked, the position of the body, and the stab wounds. . . it all looked way too much like the crime scene photos of my mother. It made me feel even worse than I felt when I reported to work so, I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't act so sensitive about the order of my phone calls."

The conversation halted as the waitress came over to take their orders. They both got their usual, which helped smooth things over as each remembered the first time they had eaten there together. Kate mentioned a few details on how the case unfolded in between bites while Castle listened intently, remaining quiet for once.

As Castle picked up the check he stated: "You haven't mentioned anything more about the Hamptons. I'm starting to get the impression you don't like to go there with me, is that correct?"

"Castle, I don't feel like talking about that right now. . . it's too complicated. . . let's not get into that here, OK?"

"OK, I get it. I suppose that means Labor Day weekend is probably out. . . isn't it? I was hoping to discuss something rather serious with you. . . but now, I don't know. Let's take a few days for each of us to reflect on where this relationship is going; what's truly in it for us. . .", his voice tailed off and his look became distant. He gave her a discrete hug and they went their separate ways for the afternoon.

Later that evening he tried to add some more dialog to his latest Nikki Heat novel. Once again opening the notes folder he entered:

"Listen Jameson Rook", came Nikki's voice in a burst of anger, "you've meddled in my life on and off for way too long. Just for once you need to get serious about our relationship."

"OK, Nikki, I get it. Just as soon as I get back from this latest assignment, we'll have a serious talk."

"Just make sure you give it some serious thought on the way home. . . you'll have at least five hours of flight time to get your brain in order. . . hope you make the best of it. . . bye."

_A/N: To be Continued. Come on folks, I see lots of views, lots of visitors, but few comments. Twisty enough for you? I've got the outline up thru chapter 10 . . . along with some one-shots and dialog that popped into my head months ago (one of them is included above). I hope not to stall-out in the middle of things._

_We had a confirmed EF-1 tornado come through the area on Thursday PM. Not something we get in the area often, and not something I want to see again any time soon. Most things are back to normal except for the two houses that were hit directly not to mention a whole lot less trees than there used to be. The tapping of the keyboard is relaxing after two days' worth of the nearly continuous drone of chain saws and wood chippers._


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: Oh yes, thanks for the feedback. Keep them coming. From the general consensus, it looks like I've got everybody pretty exasperated with Kate, but probably not as exasperated with her as Richard Castle at the moment. But there's nothing like a little 'time-out' to recalibrate one's sense of what's important. If this is generating some angst among you readers, then my intent is on the mark._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Castle – all credit goes to Andrew Marlow and the writing team for ABC's Castle; my thanks to them for providing a foundation for this little exercise._

**Chapter 6**

Richard Castle found himself sitting at the breakfast bar in the Hamptons kitchen. Martha was not up yet, which wasn't surprising, it was a holiday weekend after all; and Alexis has gone out early to walk on the beach to clear her head before her college classes started in earnest in only a couple of days. He loved getting out of the city and spending time at the beach, but today the experience felt empty, rather he felt empty.

_Hi, Jameson Rook, looks like you and I are back to square one pal_, he imagined himself having a conversation with his fictitious character – a bit meta, but he didn't seem to care if that indicated he wasn't in his right mind. He certainly didn't feel like it. His mind turned from Rook to the inspiration for Nikki Heat. He remembered: _"Thinking that we need to go for a long walk in the park on a day like this . . . only this time it's not to examine any dead bodies . . . rather I think it should be to discuss what we're going to do at the Hamptons this year for Memorial Day weekend . . .", weren't those her exact words? You mean to tell me that there was never really anything to this? How could it be? I mean, I asked her directly if she was really on board with an intimate relationship the evening she showed up drenched and humiliated . . . she said she was, and I believed . . . or wanted to believe. Maybe I should have kicked her out, told her to never come back. I don't know. This feels like a teenage love cliché. I'm the real-life inspiration for the 'See you in September' hit sung by The Happenings, although I wasn't even born when it was on the radio . . . "Bye-Bye, so long, farewell". Was this just some summer love affair and she's now got her sights on someone else? I wonder who she met and hasn't told me about . . . just like Doctor Motorcycle Boy . . . great._

His tragic reverie dissolved as he heard Martha making her way downstairs. He decided to put on his poker face and keep the mood upbeat for the rest of the weekend.

"Morning Richard!"

"Good morning to you mother."

"You know, it's a shame Kate couldn't come along with us. Did she have to work this weekend?"

"Yes mother, I think so", he said as matter of fact as possible so as to cover up the lie. It didn't work. Something in his tone and change of facial expression gave it away.

"Richard, darling . . . not again", she began, then changed her expression, "you know you shouldn't lie to your mother . . . tell me, what's happened?"

"That's just it mother. I'd like to tell you what happened, but I can't put my finger on it. The last time we were here together everything was going well. Then after the fiasco with me becoming Captain Bradford's stand-in, when we got back to shore, she wanted to go directly home to her place in Manhattan, and it's been the estranged Kate Beckett ever since. So, your guess is as good as mine . . . I mean, maybe she's just become tired of the kind of situations I always seem to be getting us into . . . maybe she' had enough."

"Nonsense", Martha remarked, "as you say she's a complex person, she isn't that flakey, so she must have some good reason for keeping her distance. I'm sure you'll both figure it out soon enough. But you may be right, that boat trip would have scared me off."

"Yeah, well I hope sooner rather than later", Richard said as he looked out the window toward the water, half hoping Alexis would return soon and break up their line of conversation.

Kate awoke just after sunrise on that Saturday of the Labor Day weekend. In some ways, her normal life was beginning to feel routine again. Here she was, in her own bed, alone, in her own apartment which was cozy and quiet; and she had been experiencing that for the better part of two weeks. She had slept well since the Central Park case closed and she had chosen this morning to visit Central Park on her own time. She was going to make coffee at home before going out on her exercise mission, but then she remembered that she was out of sugar and the half-n-half carton, what was left in it, had been thrown out because it was way past the expiration date.

_Well, I guess coffee and whatever will be available on the way over to Central Park, _she reasoned to herself, as she made a final check of the things she needed for the outing. She took the bus to somewhere near Central Park West and 65th street. On the way she began to think about all that had transpired on and off during her months with Richard Castle.

_If I had decided to go to the Hamptons with Castle there would be fresh coffee brewing by now, not to mention two or three kinds of fresh juices in the fridge, and bagels, and breakfast, and all the accessories, and Castle running around trying to please everybody . . . so, what's so bad about that? Nothing. But. . . but what? I need to be alone sometimes, and he just doesn't get it. He's always hovering. . . can't he see that I can do everything for myself? Well, OK, Kate, here's your day off. . . let's see how doing everything for yourself feels for a change, you know, like: getting cleaned up, cleaning the apartment, getting groceries, oh and the laundry needs to be done . . . no clean towels, and probably down to the last of any clean underwear; and I guess it's gonna be carry-out tonight since you'll be too tired to cook anything. And since you've told yourself you don't feel like reading anything by either Castle or Patterson these days, what's it going to be? Wine and silence with the bath? Or just a quick shower this evening? Oh, and by the way . . . since you like doing everything yourself, how about trying to envision piloting that boat in that horrible storm while you were getting more seasick by the minute, or were you happier that Castle got stuck doing it?_

She told herself after thinking about the boat trip that maybe she should thank the powers that be for allowing them all to make it safely back to dry land as she made her way off the 65th street traverse and into the park proper and continued walking eastward. She soon arrived at the carousel and began to remember the case where the perp had been marking the bullets to send her a message. _'Nikki Will Burn.' That poor vic, dead, going around and around on the empty carousel when we got there, and then Jordan Shaw and her posse of FBI agents showing up to grab the case. . . and Castle acting like a fifteen-year-old kid over all the cool toys they brought with them. But then he felt responsible for my situation. . . that if he had never written the series. . . the threat would never have happened, and I wouldn't have had my stuff get blown up. I don't know, I feel like I'm on that carousel. . . just going around in some big circle with him. I wonder if the only way to break this circle is to jump off while I can, because this doesn't look like it's gonna stop and let me off any time soon. Castle . . . in the Hamptons, again. . . and me here in Central Park, again . . . just like that summer when he took off with Gina. Kate, it looks like you're back to square one . . . or worse. _

She took one of the trails that went northward and from there took a long slow walk along East Drive some twenty blocks until she arrived at the South Gate house at the reservoir; and from there she got on the Shuman Running Track and headed around the west side of the reservoir for a good long jog. She figured she could make it most of the way around, cool down a bit, and search out the food trucks near the Metropolitan Museum of Art for brunch. Afterwards, she hadn't thought out any plans; her mind still too crowded with thoughts about Richard Castle and all of the cases they had been on together. The thoughts were pushed toward the background as the sound of her breathing grew stronger in her head.

Around ten fifteen Lanie's cell phone rang. The number looked vaguely familiar, but she had not entered an ID for it in her contact list. She decided to risk answering it because she was sure it wasn't from an NYPD dispatcher or 911 call center or the normal list of CSU managers. A call-in to work on another holiday weekend was not what she had in mind even though she had already enjoyed a long summer vacation away from NYC.

"Good morning Dr. Parish, I hope your day is going well . . . this is Dr. De Torres", came the voice from the caller. She recognized it immediately.

"Don't tell me . . . you're going to invite me to work on some hot ID job this afternoon", she postulated.

"Well, I am extending an invitation . . . but not to visit the morgue. It seems to be a reasonable day, well, still a little hot, for a walk in Central Park . . . but if that gets old, we could take in some exhibits at the Metropolitan Art Museum, what do you think Dr. Parish?"

"I think it's a wonderful idea. Consider your invitation accepted with pleasure."

They made plans to meet at the 'Alice in Wonderland' sculpture in Central Park around 11:30. _Wow, served on a platter and I didn't even have to invent some reason to talk to him, _she thought as she arrived at her destination. She figured he might be free for the weekend, being new to NYC and all, but that didn't mean he didn't have a girlfriend visiting him from Rochester, which was just as likely. She liked the way fate had decided things in her favor. They spent the better part of the next hour walking and talking and slowly getting to know one another better. She liked his accent; it sounded a little like Esposito's; and she liked his skin tone, even a little more moreno than Esposito's. She learned his father had come from El Salvador. He found her southern accent charming.

"El día está lindo", sputtered Lanie, trying out what little Spanish she had learned from Esposito.

"Que bien!" replied Dr. De Torres, "so you know Spanish?"

"No, No, don't even think I can start another sentence . . . it's just that I've pick up some while working with the NYPD, they've employed a good number of Hispanic officers, so it rubs off while we're out in the field."

"Oh, I see" he said with a grin. "Well, I don't know about you, but I think it's time we found some air conditioning, like maybe the art museum, what do you think?"

"I think we should head toward the art museum", she replied with a broad smile.

As they passed all of the souvenir kiosks and tables, and the ever-present food trucks along that part of 5th avenue, they drew closer to the southern end of the broad steps that lead to the main entrance; and who should they meet sitting there alone, finishing her brunch, but Kate Beckett. They made the necessary introductions and small talk and while Dr. De Torres was glancing at the surroundings momentarily, the two friends exchanged mutual looks of 'oh girl, we've so got to have a talk'. After Lanie and her new date had entered the building, another disturbing thought struck Kate. She remembered that talk they had in the morgue, not the recent one, but the one where Lanie had mentioned that everybody thinks they have all the time in the world . . . but nobody does. And finally, just like her boyfriend, she was beginning to realize that time had been flying by and she had been acting like a bystander watching the parade.

_A/N: To be Continued._


	7. Chapter 7

_A/N: Oh yes, thanks for the feedback. Keep them coming. I'm going to crank up the pressure one more notch (sorry Caskett shippers, I know this is stressful) to just below the detonation point. As smart and resourceful as Kate is, she seems to have to trouble paying attention in (Lanie's) class._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Castle – all credit goes to Andrew Marlow and the writing team for ABC's Castle; my thanks to them for providing a foundation for this little exercise._

**Chapter 7**

"Richard, tell me again why are we doing this so early?", questioned Martha, while trying to stifle another yawn.

"Like I said, mother, I want to beat the traffic back home because I have to take Alexis back to campus this evening. Her classes start first thing tomorrow morning."

"Oh, that's right. Well, let's get on with it", she concluded.

They finished a light breakfast, packed up, and closed up the house, not knowing exactly when they would return. The ride back to Manhattan was fairly quick and uneventful. Richard deposited his passengers and the weekend cargo back at the loft and then continued to other parts of the city to take care of some last-minute errands for Alexis. At one of the longer traffic lights, he sent a text to Kate Beckett: 'back in the city, can we talk please?'.

Since Martha had not slept in the car, she made her way upstairs to catch a mid-afternoon nap. Meanwhile Alexis began collecting and packing her things for the fall semester. As she worked, she began to worry about how difficult some of the classes were going to be in her new-found major. She learned that marine biology was not a separate discipline but rather a specialty within the biology major. One thing she was sure of – she was not looking forward to organic chemistry – everyone she had talked to seemed to have hated it or been intimidated by the subject in some way. Then there was the 'get your feet wet' – ha-ha – introductory class 'Ocean Dynamics' to see if this was really the thing you had imagined. She had already finished honors chemistry; and all the math and calculus classes, but then there was still something called 'Analysis of Biological Data Sets' that sounded like statistics on steroids to her. The only good thing about going back to another academic year was that she knew the ropes so to speak – what to bring, and what was totally unnecessary. She knew where all the classes were physically located, so no dry-run walks to avoid the 'can't find the classroom' embarrassment on the first day. She looked at her schedule again; these were 200 and 300 level courses and the homework would start immediately so Tuesday night would not be party-night for her, although she knew plenty of the fellow students would try to persuade her to go out and have a good time. She had been at the task nearly two hours and was in the middle of deciding what combination of clothes to pack, knowing that the weather was going to bounce between summer warm and fall cool over the next few weeks or more, when the door buzzer sounded. That's funny she thought, dad wouldn't buzz the door unless maybe he had his hands full and didn't want to put everything down on the floor to get the key.

She yanked open the door in expectation of seeing her dad, hands full of bags containing who knew what, but also containing some kind of surprise for her. Instead she greeted Kate Beckett still dressed in work clothes and trying her best to put on a smiley face, which Alexis could tell wasn't working.

"Hi Kate, please come in", Alexis spoke politely, trying to cover her surprise.

"Hi Alexis, sorry to show up unannounced, but I got a text from your dad a little while ago, so I assumed he was here . . . is he? May I see him please?", Kate went on with a tone way too formal in comparison to her demeanor in the months previously.

"No, he's not here yet, but he'll be here soon. He's taking me over to campus this evening because classes start tomorrow morning. I guess he sent you a text while he's out on his errands", Alexis explained. "I'm still packing, but you can wait for him if you like, maybe we can talk."

They talked in generalities for another fifteen minutes or so. Alexis explained her plans for an accelerated finish in her major by packing everything into the two regular semesters; while she had already checked the classes being offered in the summer semester just to make sure she could get them all in; and finally, the field camp that would come next fall, which was another six to eight weeks, depending on which program and where it was located. Kate listened with interest but suddenly her expression changed as she considered the big rush Alexis seemed to be in.

"Well, Alexis, you seem to have everything planned out quite nicely, as I would have expected. Lanie mentioned to me you were always the one with attention to details while you were working your internship with her at the ME's office. But what I don't understand is your apparent big hurry to finish. What's the rush? You should slow down a little and enjoy this phase of your life", Kate concluded.

"What's that supposed to mean?", blurted Alexis, immediately regretting her choice of words, and knowing it would probably start a confrontation. "I'm sorry, it's just that your answer sounded so much like something my dad said a couple of weeks ago. I just want to get the academic phase of my life over with. It seems like all I've done is study, well, since forever."

"Alexis Castle! You don't have to explain yourself to me. I'm just surprised that you want to rush your college experience rather than perhaps extend it. It seems that you're doing this just to please or impress your dad and your grandmother. You don't owe them continuous over achiever, super hero performance. They're already as proud of your life course as they can be, and I have to admit you have been certainly more self-controlled than I ever was as during college."

"Kate, I was hoping you might understand", she replied simply, as the door swung open and Richard Castle made his entrance, hands full of last-minute shopping items.

"Apparently I don't", Kate replied.

Castle studied the scene and the expressions the two of them wore. The whole scene was somehow different than get togethers in the living room over the past four or five months and he didn't really like what he saw.

"Kate were you fighting with Alexis?", asked Castle with dismay.

"I wouldn't call it that, just not in agreement with her point of view on some class scheduling issues."

"Sounded like fighting to me, I could hear it out in the hallway."

"Castle, this is not the time to get into it" she stated flatly, as she turned to Alexis, "Please forgive me Alexis, I know you've got a lot on your mind; and I'm in similar situation at the moment myself. I'm sure you'll do well, and everything will turn out as you have planned. And yes, Lanie and I owe you an audience, we haven't forgotten, OK?"

Alexis just nodded, deciding silence was in order, but still wondering what had gotten into Kate Beckett of late.

Kate turned back to face Castle, "Could we continue this in your office please? I know you've got things to attend to this evening. Could you come over to the precinct tomorrow around eleven o'clock, then maybe we can have lunch and discuss a few things? We need to talk."

"_We_ need to talk? You mean _you_ need to talk – finally!", he exclaimed as the office door closed behind them. "Because I've been texting and asking you to talk with me since we got back from the Hamptons trip – I've been ready to talk – and the lunch a Remy's doesn't really count – since it was you who didn't want to talk about much", he went on, not caring whether it precipitated an argument. If it did, and things got really heated, it would give him the opportunity to ask her to leave and not come back – problem solved once and for all.

Underneath she was hot. She wanted to filet him with a rush of well-chosen words in reply, but the expression on Lanie's face popped into her mind at that very instant, and she held her tongue. Rather she said: "Please, if it's convenient for you, tomorrow at eleven, OK?", she concluded in a controlled, civilized tone.

"Yeah, sure. Whatever you want. I'll be there", he replied almost automatically. It was not what he had really wanted to say.

Kate bade Alexis farewell and success in her classes and apologized once again; then found her way out of the loft. Meanwhile, Richard remained seated at his desk with the office door closed. Alexis decided to start taking the boxes and suitcases down to the car. There would be plenty of time to chat with her dad later.

When Martha Rogers found her way downstairs, her son started preparing a light dinner allowing everyone to take advantage of the opportunity to wish Alexis all the best in her next semester. Martha was gracious enough to offer to clean up afterward. She gave her grand daughter a final hug as Alexis and Richard made their way out the door with the last armloads of stuff.

"All set sweetie? Then, let's do this", Richard exclaimed, flexing his fingers as if he were starting some challenging physical task rather than just turning the ignition key in the car.

"Dad are you and Kate having problems?"

"I'm not having problems . . . but it seems Kate has some kind of problem at the moment, and I can't tell if it's with me or just with the universe in general. But don't let today's episode worry you in the least; especially while trying to study for that organic chemistry class. I'm going to make this right; or rather, I'm going arrive at a final solution one way or another. There's no need to keep stringing every member in the Castle family along with indecisions regarding my relationship with Kate Beckett."

"Ok dad just don't do anything stupid . . . sorry, you know what I mean . . . anything you'll seriously regret later."

"I know sweetie, just promise me you won't do anything stupid during the semester . . . sorry, you know what I mean . . . anything way out of character. You know I trust you completely."

They wound their way across the city toward the campus, all the while, her dad was giving her the last-minute pep talk about making the most of this opportunity in every sense of the word.

"Well, let's get this stuff up to your room", he concluded after they had pulled up in front of the dormitory.

When the task was completed, he gave her a parting hug, returned slowly to the car, and drove off. On the way back, he imagined a conversation he should probably be having with someone.

"Hey Jameson Rook, looks like we're sitting here on the same bench again. How you been doing lately?"

"Castle, good to see you. Yep, here on the bench again, wondering what to do next. How's the writing been going lately?"

"Fair to middling. How about yours?"

"Can't complain, it's still putting bread on the table."

"Hope it's good quality bread my friend, because we sometimes knock our heads against the wall to come up with something interesting . . . but man, I've seen that look before. If I'm not mistaken I'd say you are having girl troubles rather than writer's block."

"Yeah, I got this really close friend, named Nikki. She's really hot, smart, driven, and darned independent, and sometimes difficult to get along with. Sometimes she seems to consider me to be a necessary evil . . . I mean, I don't feel used, but then again, I don't feel good; yet, I can't seem to let her go."

"Oh pal, I know the feeling all too well . . . I've got this really close friend named Kate . . . same situation. Let me tell you, I've got to do something to settle the matter once and for all . . . otherwise I think I'm going to go crazy . . . and crazy people don't write good books."

"Yeah? Care to tell me what you have in mind? I'm certainly no engineer or mathematician, but I am looking for a solution to the problem too. I want it to be an elegant solution – either it's fixed, or we can walk away with some kind of dignity on both sides."

"Well, mine isn't so elegant, more like brute force. I might be willing to suffer humiliation because I know fresh clean air will be on the other side of the door. I'll walk through and breathe a sigh of relief."

"Ok, I wish you luck pal. Let's compare notes next week, what do you say?"

"Sounds good to me. Goodnight Rook, thanks for listening."

"Likewise."

Then Richard Castle realized he had arrived back the parking garage in his building; and with it, reality. Didn't he promise himself the week before Memorial Day that he'd do whatever it would take to keep walking with Kate? How could the passing of just one season change all that?

_A/N: To be Continued. Next couple of chapters, they're going to get down to business, that is, if police business doesn't get in the way (again). _


	8. Chapter 8

_A/N: Kate's not the only one who can't seem to pay attention in class . . . and you would think that between the two of them this might be their favorite subject. Getting close to exam time, and I don't mean on the college campus where Alexis is at the moment._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Castle – all credit goes to Andrew Marlow and the writing team for ABC's Castle; my thanks to them for providing a foundation for this little exercise._

**Chapter 8**

"Mother, you're not going out on the theater project this morning?", her son questioned with a hint of surprise in his voice as Martha made her way to the kitchen. "Last time I checked, it was Tuesday."

"Sorry darling, class was cancelled last minute because of some maintenance problem in the building, so you're stuck with me this morning. Besides, don't you usually have plans with Kate at the precinct, or has something changed that I really don't know about . . . I mean, you lied about her having to work when she should have been at the Hamptons with us . . . so, what gives?"

"Mother, like I said the other week, I don't know what gives. Kate is choosing to be her 'don't feel like talking about it', mysterious self . . . Oh, but that reminds me . . . perhaps the great mystery will be revealed today. I've got a lunch date with her at eleven."

"Richard, we've touched on this theme before. You're used to getting your own way, and you're frustrated that you can't manipulate the situation to come out like you want; but remember this – you don't own her – she's always been, and always will be, a very independent woman; and if I recall correctly, you mouthed off to one murder suspect some time ago about not really wanting a wife – but rather a puppy. So, _Medice, cura te ipsum_. . ."

"Yes, I know mother, physician – heal thyself."

"And while you're on that topic, you might remember that you said more than a year ago, that it wasn't about the books anymore. Well, have you ever really shown it or proven it to Kate in a significant, meaningful way?"

"What are you getting at Mother?"

"Richard Alexander Rogers-Castle! When have you become so dense? What's happened to my son? I mean Richard, I don't see a ring on her finger. . . that's what a woman considers significant and meaningful as far as a true relationship is concerned."

"But Kate's different in that regard."

"Nonsense, I'll repeat myself – have I taught you nothing about relationships?"

"I guess so . . . but successful ones, I'm not so sure."

"Richaaard, don't be a smart-aleck about this, you can learn just as much from failures as you can from successes, and you've got two in the loss column."

"Ok, Mother, I get the point."

"If you say so, but if I were you, I'd reflect on your situation long a hard. Now please get me a refill on my coffee; and after that, I'll be off."

Castle dutifully complied, tidied up the kitchen, and returned to his office. He thought about killing the little bit of time he had before going out by writing a paragraph or two, but then checked the time and found it was already 10:15, which meant it wasn't worth even turning on the computer; rather, a trip to the bathroom to get himself civilized was the next logical step. As he hurried out of the loft, he didn't bother to send a text to Kate that he was on his way.

As soon as the elevator doors opened at the fourth floor Castle could tell that things were not office business as usual. It turned out that the team has been called out on an investigation; a body had been found among the rubble in a building undergoing renovation near the area where west-side Wally usually liked to hang out. Nobody remembered the exact address, which was odd, but Castle did not question it. As long as the homicide team knew it and CSU was going to be there, that was all that mattered. The precinct bullpen was uncharacteristically empty – two other homicide teams were also out; and Gates wasn't in her office either.

_Well, that's just great. . ._ Castle chided himself for not touching base with Kate earlier that morning. _Another botched opportunity, and no murder scene either._

Castle debated hanging around the precinct and risking the return of Captain Gates or heading back to the loft to try to get some work done. As he headed for the elevator he began to think . . . _well, Mr. Rook, I think I have a way to force my solution_. He decided to give his metro card a rest and hailed a taxi instead.

"Uptown please, 727 Fifth Avenue, no rush", he said cordially, when he had settled in. The driver chose a northbound route in the center of town, then cut east just below the southern border of Central Park, and then caught Fifth Avenue southbound a couple of blocks to the destination.

Special occasion sir?", asked the cabbie when Castle had paid the fare and a healthy tip to go with it.

"Might be", said Castle, "depends on what I find. Have a good day."

"You too sir", were the cabbie's words as the door closed.

Castle passed from the Fifth Avenue side walk into the ambience only the main store of Tiffany and Company could offer. Time seemed to stop, as he took in the surroundings. Things had been rearraigned somewhat since he had been there last. One of the sales staff soon spotted him.

"Mr. Castle, good to see you again sir", the man said, as he motioned for him to enter the next showroom with the really upscale pieces on display, "what can we do for you today? Are you looking for something in particular?"

"Well, just looking for starters, Max", responded Castle as he noted the man's name tag.

Before he knew it, two hours had gone by and still no calls or texts from Beckett. His concern grew in about the same proportion as his hunger.

"Put a hold and that one please. . .", Castle said after finally deciding on the one special piece.

"Mr. Castle, it would be ten percent down payment to hold it, fully refundable of course, is that OK?", remarked the sales assistant.

"Yes, I think you still have my information on file", Castle concluded, checking the time only to find it was now going on 1:45 PM.

Upon leaving Tiffany's, Castle decided that some street food would serve the purpose, albeit quite a contrast with his surroundings only minutes before. Usually there were trucks up near the art museum, so he figured the walk would do him good. While waiting at one of the crosswalks, he sent a text to Kate's phone. A few crosswalks later, he noted that the little indicator for 'message received' had still not appeared. He began to worry even more.

After his mid-afternoon lunch, Castle finally received a return text: 'Need your help on this one, please come quickly, it's the building behind the Rubin Museum of Art near 16th street. We'll meet you there.'

Castle hailed the next cab in sight and was on his way back down town.

_A/N: To be Continued. Next couple of chapters, they're going to get down to business whether they like it or not._


	9. Chapter 9

_A/N: Alright woman, speak now or forever hold your peace . . . just for once work gives them the opportunity rather than the interruptions._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Castle – all credit goes to Andrew Marlow and the writing team for ABC's Castle; my thanks to them for providing a foundation for this little exercise._

**Chapter 9**

Castle had the cabbie drop him off on 17th street near the area of interest, figuring he'd walk to the other side of the block. Apparently someone was watching because as soon as he had exited the cab, he received a text from Beckett's number: 'Come in the side door and go to the 3rd floor hallway, I'll meet you there, and be quiet, don't yell my name.'

Castle hastily made his way up the stairwell and was just about to open the door which lead to the hallway, when someone got the drop on him – no make that two or three someone's because he found himself hands bound behind his back, and a dark cloth sack over his head before he even knew what hit him. He yelled through the cloth "Beckett!", which immediately resulted in a blow to the back of his head. Bright flashes of light passed behind his eyelids as he slumped forward, dizzy and stinging. As he was about to fall, his assailants grabbed him and dragged him down the hallway to a room where Kate Beckett was already being held against her will.

"Well, Mr. Castle", said a gruff voice as he was being ushered through the door, "we've been waiting for you."

Kate stiffened at the sound of his name but said nothing. Someone freed one of his hands but left a set of hand cuffs still clamped around his left wrist. He sensed that the free end was being clamped to something in the room.

"That should hold you for a while", a different voice remarked, "we wouldn't want you roaming about and messing up our plans", the voice continued with a slight chuckle.

After that, he sensed three sets of footsteps and then the door to the room slammed shut.

Castle called out "Beckett!", rubbing the back of his head with this free hand.

"Ow", came Beckett's voice, "could you tone it down?, that was right in my ear!"

Kate had been working on her hood for some time before the assailants had entered and was almost ready to untie the knot in the drawstring holding the thing around her neck. It had been a very time-consuming task with only one hand truly free, and the knot had been made so as to require a great deal of time. Castle immediately began the same process with his hood.

They took stock of their situation. It wasn't any worse than things they had suffered together before in solving cases, but it certainly wasn't much better either. Of course, the cell phones were gone, Castle figured that the captors had waited for Kate to unlock hers and then snatched it from her, using it to text him and set the trap. Their pockets had been emptied, no wallets, no ID's, and Kate's NYPD shield was also gone not to mention her gun; and Castle's spare handcuff key had also been removed. Each had been cuffed to a very sturdy steel column near the center of a mostly empty room with two very dirty windows. Light from the afternoon sun was still offering them enough illumination to study their surroundings in vague detail, what little detail was available through the tight weave of the cloth of their hoods. They could barely tell light from darkness. Kate's right wrist was cuffed to the beam, whereas, Richard's left had been affixed there. They could stand, lean, sit, or lay flat, or run around in tight circles, those were the options.

What the captors were trying to prove or otherwise accomplish without the Castle-Beckett team's intervention was still anybody's guess.

_Nice options, we've already been circling each other for weeks_ Castle thought as he studied the predicament.

The building was of very good construction, the room was nearly silent; only the faintest of traffic noise from the city below could be detected. The air was stale but at least not too hot, which was good because they did not need to add dehydration to their list of woes just yet, but they knew that would come later if they didn't figure some way out of the mess; or if the rest of the team at the 12th precinct didn't figure things out and come to rescue them. They didn't know if they were the only ones being held captive; perhaps Ryan and Esposito had also been lured into a similar trap and were being held in another room somewhere; maybe even in the same building. It became obvious the building had been selected because of the sound deadening propertied built in. Yelling for Ryan and Esposito, CSU, or for help in general brought no response.

"Kate, other than the present circumstances, is there something wrong between us?"

"Not a thing."

"Aw, Kate come on, you don't really mean that!"

"Yes, and . . . No . . . but you might remember that's what _you_ said to me at the motel when you let that blond stewardess drive away with your car, and you knew darn well that there _was_ something wrong between us at the time."

"Guilty as charged", mumbled Castle in return.

"And besides, I had been talking to Lanie that night, and I was all ready to have a serious discussion with you about how we felt. . . about how I felt, and then you found a way to kill both the opportunity and my patience at the same time."

"Hold on, I think I've just about got this hood thing off", Castle interrupted. The last loops of the knot worked loose, and Castle snatched the abhorrent object from his head. He turned his attention to Kate.

"Kate, I'm going to guide your fingers to a certain part of the knot, just pinch that part with your finger nails and I'll work the other part, OK?"

They set to the task together and within minutes had Kate's head experiencing the remaining light and the open air.

"See, I still think we make a good team", Castle panted as he tossed the hoods aside.

"Never said we didn't, just sometimes I wonder about the partnership."

"OK Kate, whatever it is. . . I'm sorry . . . I don't even know what's between us. I mean you took off to your apartment after the Hamptons and it's like we're back to square one . . . and I don't like being at square one a second or third or even a fourth time around."

"Ah now you see, Richard Alexander Rogers, you're serious for once; and that's just what I need right now; I'm glad Richard Castle is currently out to lunch."

"What do you mean? I had lunch. I'm right here."

"And there it goes . . . you really don't get it do you. I want to talk to Richard Alexander Rogers. . . you know, the guy who _never_ appears on page six of the NY Ledger, is he in right now?"

"So, you want me to be serious?"

"Are you ever?"

"I can be."

"Good, because right now would be a good time."

"Ok, at which square one do you want to start? Perhaps the lunch at Remy's square one from almost a couple of weeks ago? I mean, you gave me the impression that you no longer liked going to the Hamptons. . . the whole thing between us seems to have become just some excuse for fun, partying, and carnal pleasure, am I right?"

"I seriously don't know who's right or what's right for us at the moment. One day it feels like much more; another day it feels like an excuse for partying and a night of carnal pleasure as you just called it."

"Well, I had invited you there because I thought you'd find the ambience relaxing. Kate, I've always wanted to make you happy, I've always wanted to see you smile . . . have a good reason to smile. I arranged it for you – not me. I mean, fine, it's my place and I go there for myself of course, but as I had promised you from the very beginning it was for you to unwind – no funny stuff. Don't get me wrong, I was really upset that I was going there alone that week we were working that Spy Game case together; and if on the remote chance you were to have taken me up on the offer, and if things were to happen, I would have welcomed them and would have been one hundred percent on board; but even if things would have never happened the way they have, that would not change the motivation for my extending invitations to you for visiting there as often as you wanted. And by extension, the same thing applies to the loft."

"Castle, I was embarrassed, that's all. That's why I went back to my place instead of yours."

"Embarrassed? Embarrassed about what?"

"About getting seasick. I'm surprised I didn't throw up in the car. I was fighting super hard not to. . . I'm so glad I finally just passed out and went to sleep. Just watching the lights and cars going by was killing me. So, I made up my mind to be sick at my own apartment. I didn't want you to have to hear me in the bathroom half the night or something like that."

"Kate, no one can control seasickness without tremendous effort or those motion sickness patches, which we forgot to consider. I mean, we weren't expecting that killer thunderstorm to hit so early in the afternoon; and we certainly weren't expecting _me_ to become captain of the boat either. And besides, don't you think I might have been a little bit embarrassed having to admit I had no idea of what I was doing when the Coast Guard guys got on board with us?"

"Castle, that was different. Nevertheless, I don't like being embarrassed, just like now."

_How could that be any different?, _he thought but decided to let that go for the time being, and asked: "Like now? Right now?"

"Yeah, right now, because I've been in here the better part of a day and I have to pee."

"Oh. . . well, you know, nothing's going to be exposed that hasn't been seen before . . . close up for that matter."

"Castle, enough! You know what I mean."

"Yes, I know what you mean, but I'm still having trouble grasping how the nearly invincible Kate Beckett, _the_ Kate Beckett who is not bothered by dirty and slimy places, insects, snakes, or vermin, dead bodies and a whole laundry list of things most women can't stand, can be so bothered about normal body functions that have to be attended to . . . and getting embarrassed about it. It's just the two of us here."

"Castle, I just am."

"OK, OK, I get it . . . at least I think I get it . . . that is for now. This isn't over. You can't just tell me you go into hiding for several weeks just because you were embarrassed about almost puking in someone's boat. I'm going to need more explanation that that. Maybe not right here or right now, but later this will come up again, I promise."

"Castle, they were nearly strangers to me; and that makes _all_ the difference. I promise I'll tell you more later."

_Oh, you darned well better, and I don't see how it could make a difference, _he thought as he looked intently around the room for something that might help the situation. Nothing was to be found except for the discarded cloth hoods. The light was getting dimmer. They estimated that in might be somewhere after six or seven o'clock in the evening – there was no way to be sure. Castle glanced at Kate's face and his attention was drawn to her pearl ear studs.

"Are those expensive or perhaps have some special significance?", he began suddenly.

"Are what?", Kate asked in reply.

"The ear posts with the pearls."

"No, nothing special, you know I don't use much of anything while I'm out on case work."

"OK, let me have one, I promise I'll get you some new ones to replace them."

She handed him one. "What are you doing?", she asked as he broke the pearl free from the little gold post.

"Physics", he stated flatly as he extended himself as far from the column as possible, crouched down, held the pearl about an inch from the floor, and then let it do a little bounce and roll. The building may have been well constructed, but it was quite old and had settled. The pearl rolled away from them toward the left corner of the room.

"Ok, Beckett, when nature overrides embarrassment, extend yourself over there as far as possible, and attend to your affairs. It will be dark soon", he said, as he pointed toward the direction in which the pearl had rolled.

Kate let out a small sigh in response to his logical solution. The movement of the pearl had awakened the interest of something else in that corner of the room. Something emerged from a crack in the corner of the baseboard to investigate the movement.

"Probably a rat", announced Kate in her matter-of-fact tone, as Castle tensed up almost immediately. "What's your problem Castle? It's just a rat."

"After all that fun during the McLaren House case, I'm not the least bit fond of them. Which proves my point, while we were heading to the attic, you had one perched on your shoulder with its whiskers rubbing your cheek, and you thought nothing of it! Just how do you explain that?"

"Easy Castle, the summer between fifth and sixth grades, a new girl came to the neighborhood, really adventurous, like a young female Indiana Jones; or maybe at that age she was more like Dora the explorer. We used to go off on our so-called 'expeditions' around parts of the city. She taught me to navigate the subway system, we used most of our allowances to buy metro cards; well, actually they were still using tokens in the turnstiles back then. We went to all kinds of places our mothers had told us not to go to; old buildings like this one; basement passages, which we pretended were caves with vast treasures just waiting to be found. There were always rats, but my new friend wasn't afraid of them; in fact, she even showed me how to tame them."

"She knew how to tame wild street rats? Cool! But didn't your mother ever get on to you about coming home with dirty clothes?"

"Yeah, but we had a story about one place in one of the parks with a playground that had a really slimy, muddy area most of the time; and we got dirty because some boys chased us there and that was the best way to lose them."

"Uh huh", was the only utterance he could manage, his curiosity on that matter now satisfied.

In the few minutes of silence that followed, Castle began to doze off, trying to ignore the throbbing pain still at the back of his head, leaving Kate with the opportunity to relieve nature's desperate call. A couple of hours later Castle awoke with the same problem; and finding Kate asleep, headed in the direction of pearl as quietly as possible. With only the dim light from the cityscape coming in through the windows, Castle tripped over Kate's leg on the return and she awoke with a start, only to be harshly reminded of the handcuff and the steel column.

"Castle! What's going on? You all right?"

"Yeah, sorry Kate, for tripping over you, otherwise I'm fine, and we're still here in this cozy little room with apparently no way out and nobody interested in finding us."

"Ok Castle, when I said I wanted you to be serious, I didn't realize the optimist would also be replaced by the realist in you."

"Can't have your cake and eat it too, sorry Kate."

"Where did you come up with that?"

"I didn't. If memory serves, it's an old English saying dating from around the early to mid-1500's meaning . . ."

"Yes, meaning that I can't have both things at the same time; I have to choose the one and deal with the consequences of the other."

Meanwhile, Captain Gates was just about to start getting ready for bed when her cell phone rang. Upon answering it she was surprised to hear the nightshift desk sergeant's voice.

"Captain, I have a Miss Alexis Castle looking for you, do you know her?", inquired the voice.

Gates' radar switched on instantly. A call at this time of night from Castle's daughter meant something was up; and that usually meant some kind of trouble with Kate's homicide team.

"Yes sergeant, put her through." A moment later, the line connected with Alexis.

"Captain Gates, I'm very sorry to bother you but neither my dad's cell phone nor Kate's cell phone are being answered, and I've tried texts and voice messages several times. The last thing I knew about my dad is that he was supposed to meet Kate at the precinct at 11:00 this morning, and that's nearly twelve hours ago; and I know he's not at home either because I've tried his office phone too. Do you know where he and Kate Beckett might be at this hour? . . . I mean, did they go out on a case together?"

Gates became somewhat panicked and furious at the same time. _So much for the no news is good news theory_ she thought to herself. She had not known about Kate's plans with Castle that morning. Nothing had been mentioned when the team was dispatched to the murder scene. Gates had to attend another meeting between precincts and had left her office at the 12th not long after the team had headed out; and since then there had been no calls – nothing. She had assumed it had been completely routine and that everyone had drifted back later that afternoon to begin the next steps in solving the case; but now she was in the ugly position of not knowing where Beckett, Esposito, and Ryan were at the moment or in what condition or circumstances they might be in.

"No Alexis, I don't. But don't worry I'm going to find out, and I'll call you back personally just as soon as I know something", Gates responded as calmly as she could muster.

After concluding her call with Alexis, Gates immediately contacted the dispatcher. "Put out an APB for the following badge numbers . . . and see if the GPS tracers might be active, for the patrol cars assigned to them, we have a situation . . . just a moment, I'll get you those numbers."

"Yes Sir, were on it", was the reply when Gates had finished verifying the information. Gates got dressed to return to the precinct and headed out.

On the way back to work, Gates called Karpowski to see if she knew anything more about the case or if she had, by some good fortune, talked to Detective Beckett sometime during the day. Karpowski didn't have too much to add. There had been a call from dispatch regarding a body found between 16th and 17th streets at some building, with a request to check it out, but that was about it; they had left the precinct around 10:30 AM.

Gates called the CSU dispatcher, hopeful that everything would become clearer once she heard their report about what the team had found at the scene; and what her detectives had been up to. But the CSU nightshift manager called back a few minutes later with very disturbing news indeed; apparently there had been a set up because CSU had no record of dispatching any teams for the 12th precinct in the past thirty-six hours. Things were getting out of control; apparently, it was going to be a long night starting with a return call to Alexis admitting to the lack of knowledge as to her father's whereabouts, not to mention the rest of the team.

"Alexis, darling . . . is something wrong? You don't usually call this late at night", Martha said as she answered he cell phone.

"Yes grams, I think there is. Have you heard from dad recently?"

"Why no, he wasn't here when I got in. I just figured he and Kate must be off somewhere and decided to eat dinner out."

"Well, don't bother trying to call them. Neither one is answering calls or texts, and Captain Gates doesn't know what's going on yet either. Just let me know as soon as you hear something, OK?"

"Of course I will sweetie. Now just try to relax. I'm sure they'll be back on the radar soon."

"Ok, bye grams."

_A/N: To be Continued. _


	10. Chapter 10

_A/N: Don't you just hate it when people you really care about don't do what you want them to; don't react like you'd expect them to? But relax folks because this chapter and the one before it are just the tip of the iceberg. Certainly not expecting anyone to be convinced that this is the big turn-around. It appears that I've set the bar higher than I realized for writing a convincing plot turn to get the Caskett relationship back on track. Yes, I mean to do it realistically – not with some literary sleight of hand. But we're far from done yet. _

_Disclaimer: I do not own Castle – all credit goes to Andrew Marlow and the writing team for ABC's Castle; my thanks to them for providing a foundation for this little exercise._

**Chapter 10**

Esposito awoke first. It was a slow painful process. He had no idea what they had used on him; or how much of it they had used on him, but it was darned slow to wear off. It had been midday when he entered the building; and now it was nearly dark. The first thing he remembered was getting hit by someone, and now, the terrible thirst he was suffering. He worked for another few minutes to free himself of the gag placed over his mouth.

"Ryan!", he called out in a hoarse voice.

Ryan began to stir. He finally lifted his head, still groggy from the sedative, and let the image of Esposito come into focus. Their situation was not good. He and Ryan, sitting not too far away from him, had been bound at the wrists and ankles to metal chairs, using the ever-popular duct tape, many layers of it had been placed between them and their freedom. They spent the next few minutes wiggling their chairs into a back-to-back position so what little movement they had with their wrists and fingers could be put to good use in one attempting to free the other.

"Hey, this is just like Castle explained it to us", remarked Ryan as he remembered how Castle showed them how he got out of a similar self-inflicted simulation when doing research for one of his books. He had been so proud of his escape that he had described it them in detail numerous times.

"Don't need no novice advice bro. I didn't go through special ops training for nothing" hissed Esposito in reply, which made him work all the more diligently at the task.

As they worked, they collectively remembered the details. It had been about investigating that body found on the first floor; it had all been staged to lure the whole homicide team into a trap because they had been all over the first floor and found no such body. And just as Esposito was about to contact CSU as to why they had not shown up yet, four individuals appeared seemingly out of nowhere and got the drop on them. They had been detained in the same building as Kate Beckett and later Richard Castle, but were on the sixth floor for some reason. The muggers probably figured that was sufficiently far enough away from the other two to ensure no verbal communication in the event that the gags were removed.

Once free, the partners began a diligent search for their equipment, taking advantage of what little natural light was coming through the windows. The upper hallways, on the other hand, were very dark and going was slow as they made their way downstairs.

"Kate?", murmured Castle.

"Hmmm, can't a girl even take a short nap?", Beckett murmured back.

"Hey, what if they don't find us? You know how Gates hates me so much, maybe she won't care that her troublesome homicide partners are ever found."

"Easy Castle, she'll begin the search. She may not be very fond of you, but I'm pretty sure she'll have half the uniforms in the 12th out canvasing for us just as soon as she knows something is up. Besides it's her job, and she's very responsible, not to mention way too politically correct, to not do everything humanly possible to find us. Although, if I were you, I'd be ready for a serious Gates-style verbal beating about this being all your fault, when this is all over."

"I don't know which is worse, not being found in time, or being found in time and hauled back in front of Gates to face the music so to speak."

"I know what's worse . . .", remarked Kate.

"What's that?"

"Letting this opportunity go by where the world doesn't know where we are and not discussing our relationship; since every time we start discussing it, the world or the universe, or possibly even space aliens seem to interrupt the conversation."

"You're calling Captain Gates a space alien . . . not a very good way to relate to your superior officer . . . but I am inclined to agree." _You of all people actually wanting an opportunity to discuss our relationship . . . oh, that's a good one. . . or is it an opportunity to say we're gonna discuss it and then feeling like you don't want to talk about it. But then, there was that moment that Gina stole just before we left the precinct to go to the Hamptons; that looked like it was going to be a serious moment – she' probably referring to that. Sure wish we had taken it._

Instead all he said was: "Touché." And with that, he leaned in her direction and gently kissed her on the cheek.

"Richard Alexander Rogers, you know I love you, don't you?"

"Really? Because you sure have a strange way of expressing it. You've got me about as confused as a tipsy teenager stuck in the house of mirrors at the amusement park . . . and I'm not all that amused. And what's more, you don't seem to want to acknowledge your favorite writer, Richard Castle."

"It's that Castle guy that occasionally gets on my nerves", she replied evenly, not wanting to start a confrontation with him.

"Well, for the record, it was that Castle guy you met at the final Derrick Storm book launch party; and it was that Castle guy who helped you and the department solve that case . . . so I kinda like that Castle guy myself. Listen Kate, I do truly love you, and it's been for quite a while. We've gone though this before. I don't think it gets any more clear than that. I remember sitting in my office one afternoon, when things weren't going all that smoothly between us, and feeling so alone, so left out of everything, and realized that a day gone by without seeing you at the precinct was a day incomplete. That's when I realized it wasn't just about the books anymore, and it wasn't about going to the precinct to pretend I was a homicide detective or getting to run around Manhattan in a patrol car with Detective Kate Beckett. I wanted more for us. Hey, by the way, why were you so secretive about your case in Central Park when we met at Remy's?"

_Oh Lord! What is it with this man-child? Is there any way to cure his attention deficit disorder?_ came the questions in her mind as he finished speaking. She held her tongue although a terse and sarcastic comeback was threatening to leak out pertaining to something about a female spy marked for termination.

"Castle! Can't you stick to one topic for just five minutes? The reason I didn't want to talk about the case is that we were supposed to be eating lunch, and a description of the crime scene wasn't the kind that would have bolstered anyone's appetite. And besides, there were stab marks on the vic that looked way too similar to those found on my mother, so that was why I really didn't want to talk about it, ok?"

"Yeah, well that's just it, isn't it? You don't want to talk about something . . . just move on and cover it over . . . deal with it later, maybe, maybe not. You know what? The great time keeper doesn't care . . . the universe doesn't care if you want to talk about it or not, but time keeps passing nevertheless, and one these days there will be no time left _to_ talk about all those things you keep sewn up in the lining of that vest of yours. _Tempus fugit_. Need I say more?"

Kate said nothing as numerous visions of her conversations with Lanie flashed across her mind. All of them had at least touched on the subject of _Tempus fugit. Yeah, how long are you going to keep circling until the fuel runs out? _She thought about how much time had passed between her first yearnings to be more with her favorite writer, yeah that guy Richard Castle, than just a verbal sparing partner in the 12th precinct office; and the night she had shown up like a half-drowned rat at his apartment and presented herself to him 'as is', defects, scars, humiliation, and yet he took her in. And now, something like three years and going on four months since that first offer to visit the Hamptons, which she missed, and this past Labor Day at the Hamptons, which she had also missed. She tucked her head between her knees and let out a deep sigh.

"No, you needn't continue . . . I know", she finally said. "Shhh, I think I hear movement out in the hallway."

_Well, when are you going to do something about it?, _he shouted mentally, but then focused on listening for any clues as to what might be going on outside of the room holding them prisoners.

_A/N: To be Continued. _


	11. Chapter 11

_A/N: Kate thinks their little chit-chat while forced together has somehow solved the problem; she's pretending everything will be all right, but Castle's heart is not in it. This is a transition chapter more or less._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Castle – all credit goes to Andrew Marlow and the writing team for ABC's Castle; my thanks to them for providing a foundation for this little exercise._

**Chapter 11**

"Beckett!?", called Esposito from the nearly black hallway.

"In here!, We're in here!", Kate yelled back.

"Yell again. I'm not sure which room it came from", Esposito called again.

Meanwhile, Ryan was checking the second and first floor hallways. Only the first floor had any artificial lights, courtesy of the temporary lighting strings left in place by the construction contractor.

"Guess what I found in the construction debris dumpster near the first-floor exit", Ryan declared proudly, as he returned to the darkened third-floor hallway, holding up police shields, guns, handcuffs, ID's, and wallets, and holding the only flashlight he could find. "Don't know where the cell phones are yet."

"Well, at least we won't have to fill out the paperwork and explain to Gates how we lost our precinct issued equipment . . . Beckett!, Where are you?, he yelled again after replying to Ryan.

"In here!" the words got louder as the two detectives yanked open the door to the room where Beckett and Castle were still bound securely to the steel pole; the beam from Ryan's flashlight revealing their predicament.

"Glad you guys are OK", the rescuers said in near unison.

"You guys . . . Castle when did you join the party?", inquired Esposito.

"Oh, I got an invitation around mid-afternoon. Rushed right over. Didn't know bondage would part of the entertainment."

The spare handcuff keys that the team had hidden in their wallets or behind their NYPD badges, a trick Castle had learned early on from the team's example, quickly appeared and the two were released from their confinement. The foursome made their way slowly down to the first floor behind the weakening beam of Ryan's flashlight.

"Shhh! Quiet guys . . . Kate, I might be imagining things, but I think I hear your cell phone ring tone coming from somewhere", Castle announced. They froze and listened intently.

"I hear it. It's down that way", Ryan announced as he headed in the direction of the muffled sound. _Keep ringing . . . Keep ringing_, he mentally commanded the device as he frantically tried to locate the exact spot.

Beckett caught up with him in an instant, even though her legs were sore and cramped from the position she had been in for the past few hours. She scooped the phone out of the mail drop and found Gates' caller ID showing.

"We're here Captain, Sir . . . no time to elaborate . . . only less than five percent of battery remaining . . . we're OK, send team to 17th street. We'll meet them" she concluded as the phone shut down on low battery. "Anybody else got a phone?", she asked lamely. "I hope she got that . . . but she's going to be pissed. I think I saw the time just before it went dead. I think it's about three-thirty in the morning."

Gates was at her desk. "Put a detail on that building. Have CSU do a full sweep in the morning . . . right, well it is morning; rather, as soon as dayshift begins", Gates' voice spilled over into the bullpen as the homicide team exited the elevator.

Gates was obviously commanding someone on the other end of the phone as the foursome entered her office.

"Nobody kidnaps people from my precinct and gets away with it. They are going to be found, and they are going to pay . . .", she concluded as she turned her attention to the team.

Gates only had questions pertaining to their health and wellbeing; and if anyone needed any treatment, and with those answered to her satisfaction, and with her permission, everyone dove for a desk phone and called their significant others to assure them everything was more or less back to normal, and they'd be home within the next half hour.

"What do you suppose the perps were trying to pull off?", questioned Castle, as he and Kate boarded the elevator and waited for the doors to close.

"Don't really know . . . obviously it was a set-up, and Gates is on the warpath about it. I'm only glad she allowed me to report at noon tomorrow. I'll worry about it then. What I don't understand is how two police cruisers could remain parked there for that many hours and nobody thought to monitor the lack of movement."

"You need an escort to your apartment, or are you good?", Castle mentioned off-hand.

_Wow, he didn't even mention the loft . . . but then why should he? I suppose he's pretty tired of me at the moment. Girl, you've got some big dues to pay . . . Castle, Lanie, Gates, and God knows who else. I guess I'm going to be doing all the talking and they're going to asking all the questions . . . better face it sooner than later. _"No, I'm a big girl Castle, I'll get there", she replied in a neutral tone.

Later, she entered the darkened apartment, the one she had left with no food, no clean clothes, and a dozen other things that needed doing, and went straight to bed. She knew the couple of hours before going back to the precinct were going to be busy by necessity.

The reunion at Castle's loft was brief for the sleep deprived threesome; Alexis having come back there for the night to stay with Martha during the vigil. They hit their respective beds hardly an hour before sunrise. Alexis decided to skip her ten o'clock class and get back to campus in the early afternoon. Fortunately, Castle had invested in black-out curtains for his room; something he drew closed very rarely. Sleep overtook him much faster than he supposed it would, after all the excitement, and the things Kate had mentioned in their brief conversations. He emerged, ready for brunch, around eleven o'clock.

The phone on the credenza rang around twelve fifteen that afternoon. He wondered why they had not called his cell phone, but then remembered that he no longer had a cell phone, or if he did, he had no idea where in Manhattan it was. Kate was on the other end.

"Gates wants you to come down to the precinct and give your statement as to what went down yesterday. I've already softened her up. She knows you had nothing to do with the matter other than being the last vic; but I assure you, she's full of questions . . . so get ready to face the music. We already have."

Castle got himself as ready as he could get, given the lack of sleep and trepidation of dealing with Captain Gates, his fault or not; and took a cab downtown toward the precinct. As he passed Tiffany's heading down Fifth Avenue, he began to add some details to a plan that would get a definitive answer from Kate Beckett once and for all. It was fraught with the risk of humiliation, just as he had mentally described it to Jameson Rook, but he didn't care, because like he had said . . . fresh air would be on the other side of the door; moreover, it would pave the way to a permanent fix or remain permanently broken with no hope of repair – problem solved, and then the _Tempus_ could _fugit_ all it wanted to, and it wouldn't be his concern. If the universe blessed him with good company in the future, well fine, and if not, he could remain an eligible bachelor in NYC to be advertised as such on page six of the NY Ledger until he was too old to be desirable to anybody.

"Like I said, Captain, I got a text from Detective Beckett on my cell phone about 2:15 PM yesterday. The number was from her police issued phone, so I didn't think anything was out of the ordinary . . . I mean, the team could have had a change of heart, or they could have encountered something twisted enough to merit one of my twisted theories to go along with it."

"Right Mr. Castle, we know all about your twisted theories", replied Gates with almost a touch of understanding and the minutest trace of compassion in her voice. "Oh, I almost forgot. Here is your cell phone. . . I'm sure the battery is discharged", she said as she handed him a plastic evidence bag with his phone in it. "Is there anything else missing that you know of?"

_The perps are still missing_ he thought. "No Captain . . . Ryan recovered all of my other personal effects from the dumpster at the scene last night", Castle replied respectfully.

As he made his exit from Gates' office, he glanced around the bullpen to see who was present. Karpowski and her team were in a huddle around one of the desks looking at something on the computer monitor.

"Let Beckett and her team know that I'm done for the day. I'll catch up with them later", he politely interrupted the huddle, and then made his way to the elevator.

_A/N: To be Continued._


	12. Chapter 12

_A/N: Ah, the skeletons in the closet . . . Kate's Closet. Going to start gaining momentum from here._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Castle – all credit goes to Andrew Marlow and the writing team for ABC's Castle; my thanks to them for providing a foundation for this little exercise._

**Chapter 12**

Kate had her marching orders. Since it was her and the team that had fallen into the trap, it was now her turn to find out who had set it, and to bring them in. She had been down to dispatch to review the recording of the call-in personally and had not crossed paths with Castle when he came and went. The recording seemed to offer little to go on; however, they sent it to audio processing just to make sure. Now that Captain Gates was out of the way, Kate checked her list – Lanie had to be next so she headed down the tunnel to the ME's offices.

The morgue was busy. A traffic accident victim with no ID, and a body taken from the East River, obviously with no ID, were being examined. Lanie was testing out Dr. Morris and Miss Rosenbloom while examining the body from the East River.

"What do you make of this Martha?", Lanie asked Miss Rosenbloom. "Accident or murder victim?"

"Looks like a murder victim to me . . . I mean, his throat's been slit."

"Right. Pretty obvious isn't it, stated Lanie, but then turned toward Dr. Morris. "Ok, Dr. Morris, you can't hide that smirk from me, now it's your turn. Care to comment further on cause of death?"

"No doubt this was intentional. Lividity and bruise marks show there was a struggle, almost like a wrestling match I would say. Look at all of this on the upper arms, both sides. Looks like someone pulled a knife, and our vic here got the bladed end to the neck. The common carotid artery has been opened, and it looks like the external jugular vein got nicked as well. He obviously bled out and was dumped into the river."

"Agreed", said Lanie as Miss Rosenbloom looked on, nodding in agreement also. "Now, does anyone care to comment about the murder weapon given the forensic evidence?"

"It was a knife, like Dr. Morris said", stated Miss Rosenbloom.

"Yes, it was. But there's more . . . you can do better than that" replied Lanie.

"Well, it wasn't a carving knife. No smooth blade here. Look at that pattern", he said as he adjusted the magnifier over the spot. "I'd say it was a hunter's or fisherman's knife."

"Oh, now I see what you mean", added Miss Rosenbloom.

The forensics lesson was cut short by Kate Beckett, who made her entrance with the assumption that Lanie was alone.

"Lanie, if you've haven't had lunch yet, I suggest Remy's", she called out as the doors swung open. "Oh, sorry I didn't know you had company."

"Well if you'd stay at your desk once in a while, you might have the opportunity to learn of the changes around here", Lanie remarked sternly, giving Kate a look, being somewhat irked by Kate's assumption that nothing went on in the ME's offices unless it was one of the victims pertaining to the 12th precinct's homicide teams.

"Looks like some introductions are in order", announced Lanie as the three on the ME's staff removed their gloves and disposable smocks and dumped them in the bio-waste hopper.

"Kate, this is Dr. Larry Morris, recently transferred here to our great city from Arkansas, and this is Miss Martha Rosenbloom, from the Bronx, our new lab tech."

"Larry and Martha, meet Kate Beckett, a lead detective at the NYPD 12th precinct, next door, and good friend of mine."

"Pleased to meet you Detective Beckett, we've heard a lot about you from Dr. Parish", came the responses almost in unison.

"I hope what you heard was good", Kate replied, feeling a slight flush on her cheeks and her ears getting warm. "I'm sorry to have interrupted . . ."

"Well, folks, I know this is going to sound rude, but please forgive me, and please don't take things the wrong way . . . I didn't have lunch plans a few minutes ago, but now it looks like I do", Lanie announced while shooting another look towards Kate. "I'm going to leave you two on your own this afternoon. Let's talk at the end of the shift. I'd like to see your reports."

Kate and Lanie were soon seated at their favorite booth at Remy's, which wasn't a problem since the lunch crowd had already dissipated. As they waited for their usual orders to be prepared, the topic turned toward Kate's social life, or rather the lack of it.

"I take it this is about the 'Girl we've gotta have a talk' looks we exchanged in front of the art museum some days ago and not about some file you need on your team's latest vic" began Lanie.

"Lanie, who is this Dr. De Torres I saw you with?", Kate began.

"Riiiiight . . ." Lanie drew out the word for extra effect, ". . . and who was missing from the scene in Manhattan while Kate Beckett was sitting on the steps . . . _alone_ . . . eating brunch, when she could have been enjoying breakfast and mimosas and God knows what else in the Hamptons? . . . I'll get to Dr. De Torres in a bit, but first we're going to get Kate Beckett to start seeing straight again."

"I don't like mimosas all that much."

"Shut up. You know what I mean. . . what you don't seem to like all that much is being seen with Richard Castle. So, what I want to hear is your admission . . . not that I need it . . . but _you_ need it, your own ears need to hear what's coming out of your mouth. Are you done with the Castle-Beckett relationship?"

"No, no, I'm not done. . . I mean, I don't wanna be done with it."

"Then why are you acting like you are?"

"I . . . I don't feel safe with him. I mean, when we're alone together, I feel completely safe, comfortable, and loved. . . but when we're outside in public, I feel like I've got a target pasted to my back; not so much for a bullet these days, but for a dart from every social headhunter in the jungle. I mean, the first time we were cuffed together and thrown into a basement with a tiger for company, I hated being stuck with him like that, but this last time when someone wanted us out of the picture, and we were stuck together, I wanted him to hold me and make me feel safe again."

"That sounds ridiculous . . . but coming from you . . . I know it's not, you've got your reasons, but you don't have the luxury of time to work them out. Remember what I said back at your place one night about circling until the fuel runs out? That fuel is his patience, girl . . . _with you_. That man may be downright childish at times; and act like a real jackass at others; but one thing that is not childish about him is his degree of understanding and patience with people, especially with people who are troubled about something . . . if you're anything like a good detective I'm sure you've picked up on that when he's relating to people in the field. You mean to tell me you haven't realized he does that with you? But no human being is capable of infinite patience . . . this is going to crash land sooner rather than later . . . I can just feel it."

"Lanie, what should I do?"

"I've already told you what to do, go back and look at your notes, and go talk to Dr. Burke, the more often the better. Now let's eat."

When Kate returned for the afternoon, she met Karpowski in the hallway.

"Hey Kate, I saw Castle after his debriefing with Gates. It's been awhile since he's consulted on a case with you here. Are you breaking up with him, because if you are, just let me know, I have half a mind to ask him out, as would Vera, and Missy, and about half a dozen of our friends up north. Just say the word."

"Wow, Karpowski, that was kinda forward, even for you . . . but right now the word is No."

"OK, Kate, no offense, I'm just saying . . .", she concluded as each continued toward their respective stations.

_Wow, where did that come from? Castle's on my team. I can just imagine Gates if she got the impression that Castle was hopping from one female detective to another in her precinct . . . Ha, that would go over like the proverbial lead balloon. She' have him outta here in an instant, and even his high-placed friends wouldn't be able to do a thing about it. But better not let things come to that . . ._

The late lunch was not what Lanie had in mind because it was going to ruin a dinner date she had already accepted, and the intended place for dinner was not the kind to visit if you didn't feel like enjoying the best cuisine Manhattan had to offer – at least that's what she had been told. She made a call to see if it wouldn't be too much trouble to move the reservation to about an hour and a half later than originally planned. If she had known what her date had in mind, she would have never dared to put him up to that much trouble – certainly not on a second date. He called her back about an hour later and reported that the nearly impossible feat had miraculously been accomplished; they could meet at 9:00 PM.

Dr. De Torres had told the cab to wait, while he went in to get Lanie. They both entered the waiting vehicle and headed uptown. During the trip, they practiced a few phrases in Spanish, much to the amusement of the cab driver, who smiled a lot yet remained silent. The trip ended in front of none other than the Q3 Restaurant.

"Francisco, you really know how to impress a girl. . . If I had known what you had in mind, I would have never asked you to change the time . . . I've heard it's nearly impossible to get reservations here."

"Well, there is a good reason to believe in miracles", he responded as they waited briefly for the maître d'.

Their dinner was exquisite, as expected, offering a perfect opportunity to chat more and get to know one another better. During the dessert course, the owner, dropped their table by to see how the meal and the service were.

"Good evening. I'm Madison Queller, I hope you're enjoying it. Was everything up to your expectations?"

"Good evening Ms. Queller, I'm Dr. De Torres, and this is Dr. Parish. I've been looking forward to dining here ever since someone recommended the place to me; and yes, everything surpassed our expectations . . . didn't it Lanie?" Lanie nodded in agreement.

"Oh, you're both doctors, you work out of one of the local hospitals together?", asked Madison just to get a little more demographic on her clientele.

"Oh, no. we don't treat the living . . . we're both with the City's ME's office downtown."

"Oh, the ME's office. I know someone working very close to your office. She's been a very good friend of mine ever since high school. She works at the NYPD's 12th precinct as a detective."

"A female detective at the 12th precinct you say . . . that doesn't leave too many guesses . . . you wouldn't happen to be talking about Detective Kate Beckett would you?", inquired Lanie with a twinkle in her eye.

"Yes! That's exactly who I'm talking about, how did you guess?"

Dr. De Torres looked on with interest as Lanie explained that she and Kate had become friends and confidants not long after Kate had been assigned to the 12th precinct.

"Listen Ms. Queller. . .", began Lanie

"Just call me Maddie . . . that's what Kate calls me."

"Ok Maddie, I need a favor . . . We have to talk, and soon. Can we meet sometime this week? I know you're busy; you must be running this place, but can we find an hour or so somewhere . . . anywhere . . . you name it. Here's my card, it has my cell phone number on it . . . please let me know. Thanks."

"May I ask what was all that about?", questioned Dr. De Torres, as they were waiting for the doorman to hail them a taxi.

"Oh nothing special. Just some girl issues . . . and don't worry it's nothing about you . . . or about us. I'll let you in on it when the time is right . . . just not tonight, OK?", explained Lanie.

"Well, come on Cinderella, let's get you home before this cab turns into a pumpkin or something like that" Dr. De Torres teased.

He got a tender kiss on the cheek for his efforts. "And there's more where that came from", Lanie whispered.

Lanie had just finished her extended thank-you and have a good night session with Dr. De Torres when her phone rang. She didn't recognize the caller ID or the number but again took the chance and answered it.

"Hello Dr. Parish, it's Maddie. We just closed up for the night, and I took the chance that you might still be available. God, I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

"Relax Maddie, you're not interrupting anything, but if you had called thirty minutes earlier that might have been a different story . . . and by the way, just call me Lanie."

"Lanie, I'm sorry to call so late, but things always get so busy . . . and then I'll forget . . . and I know this sounded important, so I figured I'd take the chance and we could discuss it right now. That is, if you don't mind."

"No, I don't mind at all. The sooner I get some background on this enigma, the better for all of us. And what better way is there than to interview her BFF from high school."

"Ok, this doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out . . . it's about Becks, right? Let me guess, she still has the hots for that Richard Castle guy . . . and boy I can see why . . . but she's pretending she doesn't want anything to do with him . . . is it something like that?"

"You get a gold star honey. That's spot on."

The conversation was going on almost two hours; not that Lanie was bored with it, she was just the opposite. So many things now started to make sense as to Beckett's outlook and attitudes on certain issues. Lanie was carefully making mental notes to be used as ammunition later. _Boy, if Castle only knew the half of this . . . well maybe it's better that he doesn't. He got enough tidbits on his one date with Maddie_.

"Lanie, I've drawn two conclusions regarding Becks. The first is that she's a consummate professional at talking and acting like a bad-ass tough girl, but inside she's just kind of a nerdy little girl socially; smart as heck academically, knows just how to give the right answers for the tests, but she's kinda sheltered in my opinion. All that talk about guys . . . yeah she's got some experience; I mean, come on, those of us endowed with lots of womanly charms always get the attention of men, and she's had them stuck to her like flies on candy since ninth grade onwards. They taught her some stuff, but what they didn't teach her was how to relate to someone when you're in love, because those weren't true love affairs. Aren't too many of us around actually married to a high school sweet heart – that is happily married to one.

"I'll agree with you on all counts. What else?"

"Well this may be nothing but there was one event that really blew her mind. I had never seen her so upset. She was darn near inconsolable for a couple days. Took hours of convincing by both me and her boss to go back to work . . ."

"Do tell . . . because I don't think I've ever heard this one before", said Lanie as she perked up even more.

"Of course you know about her mother's death. . . but that's old news. It was the summer after her mother had been murdered. Her father was a mess. She just wanted to get away and do something to keep herself busy, like a decent paying summer job, and working at a restaurant chain or whatever was not her idea of a decent summer job. She applied as a fashion model, and with her looks and body type, acceptance was almost automatic. About midway though the summer, she called me one night, completely in tears, said that she didn't know who else to tell, and that she'd never be seen in public again. I mean, were only nineteen at the time. We didn't know what to do about the situation. It turns out she had a wardrobe malfunction, which of course happens in that business, but Becks just couldn't take it. I couldn't get her to laugh it off no matter how hard I tried. And you know the scores of photographers, not a second of a model's walk down the runway lacks a visual record of the trip. It seems she had on some kind of weird dress, like the kind you might see some famous chick wearing at a red-carpet event, specially designed to call attention to the wearer. Instead of pleats, it had half-lapped slats of material, like those vertical blinds . . . know what I mean? Well, anyway, a couple of those strips got caught on her heel as she was turning and heading back up the runway, and of course, they ripped loose and fell to the floor, and everyone could see her legs and derriere quite clearly, and she was wearing only a thong underneath not having the time between displays to have put on anything more. A couple of photographs got posted the next day. The only good news was they only got her on the turn, so her hair hid her face and the next shot was her backside. She acted like everyone in the whole darn world was going to know who she was, and was going to recognize her on the street, and well, you know the rest."

"Well Maddie, I know one thing . . . this little chat has explained a lot."

_A/N: To be Continued._


	13. Chapter 13

_A/N: Lanie puts two and two together . . . could it be just a matter of getting over that speed bump?_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Castle – all credit goes to Andrew Marlow and the writing team for ABC's Castle; my thanks to them for providing a foundation for this little exercise._

**Chapter 13**

Thursday morning started with a call from dispatch to send two uniformed officers to check out an unconscious person in the northwest corner of the 12th precinct's territory. After the initial call, dispatch called Kate and her team to the scene since the vic was found to be deceased rather than just unconscious. CSU was in the middle of its first sweep and Dr. Morris was getting some more field experience, Manhattan style, when the homicide trio arrived.

"Wow, Dr. Morris, I see you've come out to enjoy the fresh, early morning air here in Manhattan", jibed Kate as she made her way in his direction to inspect the vic and the immediate surroundings. "Any idea when this might have happened?"

"I'd say around four this morning, give or take and hour . . . see this glazing on the eyes . . . not very dense yet. Can't confirm the COD from any external evidence, but it looks like she just fell down and died. We're going to have to get her back to the lab to see if she was sick or whatever."

CSU reported that she didn't have the classic indicators of a homeless person; however, she didn't have an ID either. The canvas had been started, but no useful information had turned up yet. No one had reported any suspicions of foul play, or a mugging gone wrong, and the 911 caller had not wanted to be identified so there was nothing to add from that angle.

The team had begun the paperwork after lunch break and were awaiting word from the ME's office. The word came in around 2:30 PM.

"Kate, I've got a COD and an ID on your Jane Doe. You want to come down here and talk about it?", Lanie's voice inquired when Kate had answered her desk phone.

"Sure, I'll be right there. Things are pretty quiet in here today."

This time Kate glanced through the round window of the swinging door before making her grand entrance to the morgue's examination area. Seeing only Lanie sitting at her desk, she came in.

"I'm beginning to think you called me down here for more than a chit-chat about our Jane Doe", Kate said as she nodded in the direction of body laid out on the table.

"You know, I'd much rather have our little chit-chats back at my place, or yours, with some Cabernet in hand, rather than with hands that smell like examination gloves, but something just occurred to me, and I want to get it off my chest now before I forget the details", Lanie explained.

"Well, before you begin Lanie, Karpowski said something interesting the other day."

"Karpowski? . . . and what was that?"

"She wanted to know if I'm breaking up with Richard Castle", Kate answered grimly.

"Well, are you?", Lanie questioned coupled with the special look she gave Kate whenever she wanted a straight answer. "You can tell me, we've got plenty of time to talk. The others are out in the field this afternoon . . . unless Captain Gates comes looking for you."

"I don't think Gates will come down here."

"My point exactly", said Laine with a smile. "Kate. Stop trying to stall for time. The question was, and still is: are you breaking up with Richard Castle . . . you know, your boyfriend?", Lanie repeated with her special look back in full force.

Lanie got up and went over to a stand that had a roll-around base with a pole that had several auxiliary devices attached to it, rolled it over in Kate's direction, and swung a big round mirror into position, neatly framing Kate's face. "Now, look at yourself and make your statement", she commanded.

Kate stood there in silence for nearly a minute. "No, I'm not breaking up with Richard Castle", Kate finally concluded.

Kate continued to stand in front of the mirror, seemingly lost in thought. After some length she turned toward her friend.

"Lanie, I have something I need to tell you . . . I've never told anybody this, except my best friend from high school, not even my father . . . back during that one summer when I tried fashion modelling . . . I had a wardrobe malfunction, on the runway of course, in front of a thousand people and a dozen photographers. Ever since then I've hated people coming up to me with cameras and microphones and putting me on the spot. And Castle doesn't help . . . he keeps reminding me that I could be a great model. And if that isn't bad enough, remember when that actress came in to shadow me at the precinct because of one the Nikki Heat books being made into a film? And she put on a wig and dressed up exactly like me one afternoon . . . and all I could do was imagine me, as Nikki Heat, being seen by millions of movie goers, all over the world, doing wild things and having sex with Jameson Rook. And then it had to get worse . . . because it looked like she had the hots for him . . . that damned deep fried twinkie. Castle and his little world just keep reminding me . . . it's all his fault."

"Whoa, slow down girl. You might also remember he refused to sleep with her, and he told you why, more or less, and he, as a writer, expected you to be smart enough, detective enough, to read the subtext . . . so did you get it?"

"Yes, yes, I got it, eventually."

"You've been hiding this stuff from Castle, haven't you? You get locked in a room together with nothing else to do, and you refuse to talk about important stuff like this? Girl, you need a kick in the pants!"

"Well, not the sea sickness part, he kinda figured that one out on his own, I just confirmed it", Kate replied, trying to make it sound like the most important fact she' ever revealed.

"Kate, I'm beginning to see a pattern here that I've never noticed before. Just never expected . . . never really been looking for it. But now I wonder. There's way more to this than just your mother's death all those years ago. Oh, that's the first part. But now I see a Kate Beckett that doesn't like to be the center of attention, especially from strangers; yet Kate Beckett has a body and a demeanor that compels her to be the center of attention whether she likes it or not; and when she's with Rick Castle, any spotlight that shines on him, shines on her too, and she's super uncomfortable with that, and we all know that between Rick Castle's mouth and his shenanigans, the spotlight finds its way there. As Martha Rogers would say: 'Kiddo, you've got stage fright'. That's it, isn't it? You get all embarrassed and go hide when you get caught taking yourself too seriously even here at work. Like that time that you and Ryan and Espo were working on that skit for the benefit dinner and show way back when; you quit, you got cold feet. It was because you couldn't stand the thought of possibly messing up in front of half the department. . . because Kate Beckett has got to be perfect . . . she can never mess up. And when Kate thinks she's gonna mess up – that's when she disappears."

_Can it really be that? Is that what it's really about?_ She questioned herself while remembering how she felt that night at the precinct when Castle had become disgusted with her and her attraction to Tom Demming and had left her there in front of the murder board and went off to play poker with his writer buddies.

_Was it really because I felt embarrassed to be seen with him? That he always looked so comfortable, so self-assured, and on the other hand, I was so worried about messing up? And why was I never concerned about that when I was with Tom? . . . because I already know the answer to that. Tom was suave but very, very low profile. He felt safe . . . until it was obvious that he wanted our relationship to go sexual. . . well at least I've never been caught in any compromising situation with Tom . . . and never been caught naked in Central Park riding some smelly old police horse . . . like someone I know._

"Lanie, I don't think it's really that."

"Uh huh . . .", was Lanie's response, slow and deliberate, coupled with her clinical eye, which made Kate shiver inside, just proving the point more clearly than ever, although she still didn't want to admit it. "Kate, you don't have to live your life this way . . . why don't you talk to Dr. Burke about it?"

"Oh, not Dr. Burke again. . ."

"Why not?"

"No reason other than it seems like I'm in the repair shop more often than my police cruiser."

"So you just want to stay broken . . . and miserable . . . and . . . without . . ."

"Don't say it, please."

"Ok, I won't. But you know what you've got to do. Oh, and by the way, when are we going to meet and talk with Alexis? I think we'd better get to it before her workload for the semester gets really heavy."

_A/N: To be Continued._


	14. Chapter 14

_A/N: Two members of the Castle family seem to be grappling with their future activities._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Castle – all credit goes to Andrew Marlow and the writing team for ABC's Castle; my thanks to them for providing a foundation for this little exercise._

**Chapter 14**

Richard Castle had been on the phone with his ex-wife Gina for over an hour; however, the topic of discussion was the content of the last few chapters of his book. He had submitted them for review and editing, so the conversation had been strictly business. The editor had noticed a change in Nikki Heat's character – an unexplained change, or at least not fully explained with either the explicit text or even the subtext being offered. To him it seemed the flow of the whole narrative had been altered.

"What's the matter Richard? Some life changing event we don't know about?", Gina pried.

"No, no events Gina", he replied automatically. "But I do have a question for you. What if this were to be last book in the series? I'm running out of convincing ideas as to how to present Nikki's next big event. Seems like any kind of promotion or change of skill set would become boring. Come to think of it I'm still wondering what the title of this one should be. Anything on that list sound best-seller worthy to you?"

"That's two questions Richard", she shot back. "That's for you and the lawyers to decide, your contract says you owe us this one plus two more after that. So, what would you do instead? If this were to be the last one, you could call it 'Terminal Heat', 'Canned Heat', I don't know, she said with a touch of sarcasm in her voice. But then her tone softened considerably: "Hey Rick, thanks for turning these in way ahead of schedule for a change. We'll send you the editors' notes and suggestions in a few minutes. Check your document exchange link, OK?"

"Thanks Gina. I'll get you a good title, and I'll let you know what I decide. Bye."

_Well, if Nikki Heat is going to survive long enough to finish her current case, Kate Beckett is going to have to decide whether she likes Richard Castle enough to keep him around; otherwise both the literary and social landscapes are going to get a makeover._ He continued sifting through his incomplete scenes and notes, searching for a way to bring the novel to closure. He decided he'd let the editors' notes wait until he was in a more receptive mood, and when that might be he could only guess.

As he was on his way to the kitchen to get something to drink he thought _last Nikki Heat novel in the series . . . should I give her the fatal bullet too? . . . sort of like the last in the series for Derrick Storm, which reminds me, the book launch party venue, that might help it become the deciding factor . . . yeah, got to keep that place in mind._

Lanie and Kate found Alexis seated outside a small café just off campus. They had sneaked out for an early lunch and combined the trip with the promised meeting.

"Hi Alexis, how are classes going so far?", Lanie began as soon as they were close enough.

"Oh, Hi . . . I'm glad you both could come. This is pretty important to me", she replied as she looked up from her emails on her phone. "Oh, Kate, are you and I good from that thing the other week?", she questioned.

"I think we are . . . I mean, I am if you are", Kate responded somewhat cryptically because she didn't want Lanie to pry into that issue as well. Alexis smiled and said nothing more about it.

"Well, I don't want to keep the two of you very long. I know you've got work to do . . . and yes, classes have been pretty good so far, but we haven't gotten to the really hard stuff yet. The reason I really wanted to talk to you is because you both got degrees, and you had to decide where to stop school and when to start real-world work", she began, as she pocketed the phone and gave them her full attention.

The two women nodded and let her continue.

"So, the first part of this is, I wanted to personally invite you both to my college graduation, since I had really wanted that to happen for my high school graduation, but we all know that way too much was going on that afternoon, and well it's all water under the bridge now. I think this one will be special, because when I'm done with this major, well I think I'm going to be done for good. So, I want all the women who are special to me to attend."

"I'm not sure I follow you", replied Kate as Lanie looked on.

"I'm just saying that I want to celebrate with all the people who have influenced me and helped me get this far; and you two are certainly on that list. . . because I might not stay in the area afterwards. And, please don't tell my dad we've had this conversation."

"Alexis honey, why don't you want to discuss something like this with your dad? You've always been close. Why would our opinion somehow be more important than his?", Lanie broke in.

"I'm talking about grad school. I don't want to ask him because he'll only encourage me to go on to grad school; or maybe even be expecting that I should go, and then he'll offer to pay for the whole thing . . . but that's not what I expect he should do. . . that is, pay and pay. And maybe it's not what I even want. So I wanted to know what each of you thought, now that you've been out working. Do you think more school would have been worth it?"

"Well Alexis, it really depends on what kind of field you go into and how much you expect to earn from it", explained Lanie. "I mean some fields pay very meager salaries for only a bachelor's degree, but with others you can do just fine for yourself. Like the major you've chosen. It could go either way. You could get in with a decent ocean exploration or remediation firm and get good pay raises for merit, which I have no doubt you'll qualify for; but then there are other research organizations, which will offer little unless you're a PHD. You're not thinking of some kind of teaching are you?"

"No, no not that at all. . . Kate, what about you?"

"I'm fairly happy with what I do. I think it makes a difference in the world; and that's enough motivation for me to get out of bed in the morning, or in the middle of the night, or whenever duty calls, you get the point."

"If you could go back in time, would you have pursued a law degree?", Alexis asked sincerely.

"From where I stand now, no. I wouldn't go back. I'm studying for the Captain's rank right not . . . which is partly the point. We all have to get continuing education for our jobs at some point. And most organizations have plenty of room for advancement. The NYPD certainly does."

"Kate's right about that", added Lanie, "I've had to go to several classes just because the examination methods and equipment have changed pretty drastically in just the few years I've been working at the ME's office."

"Would you go back and do more Lanie?"

"No sweetie, it took way too much work to get through medical school . . . believe me that was enough for me. I like where I am right now. . . and while it can get pretty crazy at times, it's nothing like working at a hospital."

"Well, thanks to both of you for coming. Promise me you'll try to make it when the big day comes, OK?"

"Of course we will . . . as long as we continue to wake up on this side of the ground", Lanie responded, while giving Kate a look that said not to read too much into that statement.

Each returned to their tasks at hand. The rest of the week was routine.

_A/N: To be Continued_


	15. Chapter 15

_A/N: The girl-talks start getting serious. Castle has set his plan in motion. Kate still doesn't really have a plan._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Castle – all credit goes to Andrew Marlow and the writing team for ABC's Castle; my thanks to them for providing a foundation for this little exercise._

**Chapter 15**

"Wow, a Friday afternoon and not a single body has dropped anywhere in Manhattan in the last forty-eight hours", exclaimed Lanie as she saw Kate approaching her table at Remy's just after the day-shift ended.

"Stop talking. You'll jinx it for sure", hissed Kate through loosely clenched teeth, which she did more for dramatic effect than anything else.

"Alright. Got it. Have you had any sessions with Dr. Burke yet", Lanie affirmed and wanted to know at the same time.

"Yes, two already."

"Was he surprised? . . . and oh, did you figure out if he's married yet? – Detective."

"I'm pretty sure he's married Lanie. And what's with you anyway, all of the sudden you're sweet on Dr. De Torres, and now you're interested in Dr. Burke too? What's the deal . . . you want to hit on every doctor living or working in the precinct or something?"

"Nooooo . . . nothing like that. It was just a ruse to get you to pay more attention to what's going on in Dr. Burke's office when you visit there" Lanie replied coyly, "Well, was he surprised to see you back?"

"I think yes – especially the second time. Knowing my history, he always seems to be somewhat amazed that I've shown up for another session because he knows that I know that the majority of them have been mandated."

"Come on girl, you know it's for your own good."

"Yeah, well the last one was mandated too. By you. Maybe not officially but mandated none the less. Let's talk about something else. What are you doing this weekend?"

"As little as possible", Lanie responded. "But I think Dr. De Torres and I will find some time together before it gets too late on Sunday evening. . . what about you? . . . You going over there tonight? . . . you know, Castle's loft?"

"No, he hasn't invited me, no calls, no texts, _BUT_ I did get this in my email", she said in a serious tone, as she called up her email screen on her phone.

"An electronic invitation. . .", Lanie sighed as she saw the fancy envelope graphic slowly open and expose a formal invitation card.

"Sure, looks like it", Kate stated simply.

The electronic card read:

_You are cordially Invited_

_to_

_A Quiet Dinner for Two_

_At the_

_The Rooftop Restaurant_

_The Four Seasons Hotel_

_E. 57__th__ Street_

_8:00 pm_

_Friday, Sept. 17__th_

_Dress: Casual Chic_

_RSVP_

"You _are_ going aren't you?"

"Of course I'm going! I'll exchange shifts with someone to make sure I won't get called out at the last minute; or worse yet, during the meal. Wonder what it could be about. Who knows? . . . with Richard Castle it can usually mean the 'I'll make it up to you' kind of surprise. We tried to talk in the precinct, we tried to talk at his place, we never really talked seriously when we were in the Hamptons, we've tried the noisy restaurants, we talked a little while cuffed to a pole in an abandoned building. I guess he figures this mostly private, sophisticated setting will allow us to settle the matters with civility. I mean, you don't think it could be something more serious than that do you? . . . Given that we seem to be on a self-imposed time out."

"I doubt it. You know Castle, if it were something more important, it would be big and flashy, and since the venue doesn't have a heliport, and it has nothing to do with hot air balloon rides, or parades, or large public spectacles or a sports stadium, I'd say it's probably just dinner", was Lanie's counsel.

"In that case, I'd better RSVP", Kate responded, while hitting the link on the invitation for 'Yes'.

"Kate, if you can't come clean with your own conscience, could you at least come clean with me? . . . or maybe Dr. Burke?", Lanie questioned in a smooth but firm tone that, in Kate's experience, indicated that she meant business, and there was no escape until a satisfactory answer was furnished.

"I mean, you once told me that Dr. Burke asked you what you were really afraid of in your relationship with Castle. . . that he would wait for you . . . or that he wouldn't . . . so have you ever really answered that question? Or are you just going to continue like you've been doing and ensure the answer? – The _wrong_ answer! And don't you _dare_ use the word 'complicated' in your next sentence."

"Lanie, I want him. I want him bad. God, I remember Maddie looking at him and me the day we went over to her restaurant . . . the Q3 . . . and later she told me I was really into him, just by the way I looked when standing beside him . . . and that I was so into him that I wanted to make little Castle babies. . . Arrrrh! I know he heard that because he was listening in the observation room."

"You deserved that . . . and worse . . . for arresting your high school BFF just because she accepted a date with your boyfriend while you continued to deny that he was even your boyfriend, and then came up with some coy reason to avoid the opportunity."

"I know, I know . . . Lanie, stop."

"Stop what? You know what . . . you don't need Dr. Burke . . . he's too gentle on you . . . you need me. I'm gonna grill you girl until we get a confession. So, you want him, but you're too frequently embarrassed to be seen with him in public . . . what kind of messed up relationship is that?"

"A secret relationship . . . that _everyone_ already knows about . . . Arrrrh! I hate this!"

"Well girl, it looks like you got a week to get your act together. . . hope Dr. Burke has a few openings, cuz, you're gonna need them . . . good luck."

While Kate and Lanie continued to celebrate some time off, Alexis was in a celebratory mood of her own. Having learned that she got a 92 on her first biochemistry test, she did only the essential homework for the next day, finished early, and was down at a local hang-out with two other friends eyeing the young men who also liked to frequent the place. After the threesome had caught up on all the latest news, and were feeling pretty good about themselves, Alexis checked her emails. There was one from her mom:

_Received: Wednesday, September 15, 2014 10:05 PM_

_To: __ACastle-n-da-sand_146 st~.net_

_From: __Meri_one36 vz~.net_

_Hi Alexis,_

_So good to hear from you. And I'm glad you're doing so well in all your classes – I knew you would, you always do. Did biochemistry turn out OK this week? I have a surprise. You can tell me in person because I've got a small clip that has to be shot in NYC – something that's actually easier to bring a crew to the city to film rather than fake it with a set and a collection of back drops in LA. I'll be arriving Sunday afternoon and will be in town most of the week, unless they wrap early, but who knows? And no, I won't bother your dad and Kate at the loft; besides I'm on expenses so I don't know where they'll put us up but I'm sure it will be swank enough. I'll send you a text as soon as I get settled OK?_

_Take care sweetie, _

_Mom_

Alexis hit the speed dial for her dad's phone.

"Hi dad. I've got some news for you", exclaimed Alexis the instant her father said hello.

"If it's biochemistry you're talking about, I hope it's good news", he replied.

"Oh, yeah . . . well that too. I got a 92 on the first test for the semester so I'm feeling pretty good. But there's more. I just got an email from Meredith this evening telling me she's coming to NYC next week . . . starting Sunday evening."

"Sounds like I might have to head for the Hamptons", her father said half-jokingly. "I assume it has something to do with her work. I can't think of anything else that would bring her this way . . . she knows you've got school and it's not the kind of thing where she can expect you to just drop everything and take off with her someplace."

"No, not this time . . . I hope", remarked Alexis, "She says she has to be here for shooting a scene – that's all. She's not sure how long it's going to take."

"Well, when she's finished, I'd stay hidden if I were you; otherwise you might find yourself caught up in an unscheduled trip", her father cautioned.

"Hey, one more thing dad. Are you and Kate doing OK?"

"Well dear daughter, I hope to be able to give you good news about that after Friday night. Meanwhile, take care, OK . . . and thanks for the call . . . bye."

_A/N: The next chapter promises to be equivalent to that first hill on the roller coaster. Enjoy the ride._


	16. Chapter 16

_A/N: As crazy as this gets, it leads up to something I've been trying to envision even when I was still writing my first story. _

_Disclaimer: I do not own Castle – all credit goes to Andrew Marlow and the writing team for ABC's Castle; my thanks to them for providing a foundation for this little exercise._

**Chapter 16**

The Friday evening for the quiet dinner for two at the Rooftop Restaurant finally arrived. Castle had discretely checked in with Alexis, Martha, several of the members of the homicide teams in the 12th precinct, and a couple of other close associates. He had worked in the topic of wondering what plans they had for Friday evening; and if those plans included dinner out, he had asked where they might be because if they hadn't decided on a particular place, he had several recommendations, which of course weren't anywhere near the Four Seasons Hotel in Manhattan. To his relief all had appeared to work out very well. He found it both interesting and somewhat reassuring during his conversations with persons in the 12th precinct that none of them recalled Kate Beckett mentioning any plans. That had left only two persons on his list. One was sure to know; and the other was sure not to. He had decided to tackle the hard one first. Around 12:55 that afternoon, he had called Captain Gates, just to check in and see if anyone needed him, and to apologize personally to Gates for his absence of late due to writing commitments. Gates had assured him that everything was going along fine without him and she was glad to hear that he was attending to his regular job responsibilities (for once). She had revealed to him her plans to visit extended family that evening when he had wished her an uneventful weekend. Last but certainly not least was Lanie Parish. His call had found Lanie and Dr. De Torres on the Palisades Parkway, heading north out of town with Buffalo and Niagara Falls as the destination for the weekend. That they were spending the weekend together was no big surprise, but Niagara Falls was unexpected so early in the relationship. Things must be heating up fast he thought to himself. When the conversation turned to Kate Beckett, all Lanie would reveal was that she had heard something about Velazquez taking her shift for the day so that she would not be called out at the last minute. Lanie knew something was up. He was sure of it.

_Oh boy, Lanie is forcing her to fly solo this weekend. Well, all the better. I wonder if she' going to maintain radio silence. That way I'll be sure to get a definitive answer good or bad. The only problem is, I don't which answer will be the good one or the bad one in the long run. Just hope there will be something more to go on than I have right now . . ._ he had been thinking as he had pocketed the phone.

They had arranged to meet in the small alcove near the concierge desk where Cedrick, who had confirmed that he would be on duty that evening, would recognize them and direct them to the express elevator to the rooftop. Per Castle's instructions, a table had been set well apart from the others and surrounded by planters. It occupied the northwest corner of the venue. Gas fired infrared heaters were standing by in case the breeze became too chilly. The atmosphere was just right for a quiet dinner for two. Castle had also checked with the maître d' regarding the menu and the specials; and just to be sure, if could they order off the menu upon not finding anything to their fancy. For Richard Castle and his date – that was not a problem.

Castle had left the loft just after six and took a taxi downtown. He stopped at Tiffany and Company on the way to dinner. Max, who just happened to be working the late afternoon shift, recognized him immediately as he entered.

"Mr. Castle, I take it you are here to pick up that item you had on hold", Max began has he went over to shake Castle's hand.

He had assumed that was the intent by noting how his client was dressed this particular evening. Though not formal, Castle had gone up two levels from what he normally wore to book signings and other public events.

"You are correct Max", Castle replied. "Let's get all of the paperwork completed shall we?"

He walked out of Tiffany's at about 8:40 PM. It was a good thing the Four Seasons was close by. As he entered the lobby of the hotel, he removed his sunglasses, not that he had really needed them, and grabbed his phone. Setting the phone to vibrate only, he slid it back into his pocket and continued toward Cedrick's desk. As he walked, he subconsciously checked the gift box tucked into his left jacket pocket.

Kate Beckett had arrived only a few minutes before and sat on the plush sofa near Cedrick's station. The area was quiet; set well apart from the bustling activity of the large lobby area. Kate took the few minutes to calm her nerves, check her dress, and take note of her surroundings. There were plush velveteen curtains framing a tinted window, contrasting nicely with the upholstery on the sofa and the two armchairs. The end tables had small lamps with subdued lighting. Opposite the window, not far from Cedrick's station, stood a large, ornate grandfather clock; it's massive pendulum seemingly in slow motion. As she absent-mindedly glanced at the time she saw it. The ever-present reminder engraved on the clock face:

_**Tempus Fugit**_

_Crap! He probably knows that's there. It's probably why he made us meet right here . . . just to prove his point_, she thought as she recalled the conversation they had not that long ago.

Her date, her favorite living writer, and the man who had done almost everything humanly possible to prove himself her partner, made his way over to her. He gave her a subtle hug and a tender kiss on the cheek. The moment was not lost on at least one other person in the lobby besides Cedrick. She knew Richard Castle when she saw him, and she was almost constantly on the lookout for him as she went about her business in Manhattan. Only problem was, the Castle and Beckett evening was really none of her business but that did not stop her from sending a text to her BFF who just happened to work for the New York Ledger and was a regular contributor to the articles on page six.

The couple exchanged pleasantries with Cedrick, who ushered them to the express elevator, and a moment later they were on their way to a quiet dinner for two.

"You don't happen to get elevator sick", quipped Castle as the car accelerated leaving each of them with the feeling of butterflies in the stomach. "You know it's worse as it comes to a stop at the top", he continued.

"Alright Castle, I know, you don't have to rub it in", Kate replied while giving him a tempered version of the 'the look'.

They got seated and spent a leisurely twenty minutes or so just chatting and deciding on what to have for dinner. The weather was cooperating nicely. Only the slightest puff of breeze occasionally, and not too cool yet, given the time of year it was in NYC.

"You know, we haven't had a natural conversation like this since we had breakfast together at the Hamptons", Castle began. "I hope we can have more of the same."

"Well Castle, you really know how to impress a girl. This is really, really nice . . . what a view . . . but it's not as nice as your deck at the Hamptons."

"I know it's been rearranged for the evening, but do you recognize this place?", Castle wanted to know.

_Uh Oh, I'm in trouble now_ she thought as she racked her brain as to what was so special about the venue. So many things had happened between the two of them over the years; they had been to so many places together. This had to have something to do with his theme for the evening. She knew him well enough to know that it was not a coincidence and might even have something to do with shining a strong light on the irony of a particular thing. She made subtle glances in each direction trying to remember something about the place. Then she had it. The party lights strung over the tables adjacent to the bar area. That was it – a party. She remembered noting them the evening she had been sent to search him out at his book launch party. This is where they first met; here is where their first case had started. _Tempus Fugit was no coincidence. _

"Yeah Castle, it was over there that I shoved my NYPD shield in your face and told you that you needed to answer a couple of questions for my murder case", she replied in a matter-of-fact tone as she could manage, while subtly indicating the direction of the bar area.

"Yeah, and when I saw you, just before you pulled the NYPD thing on me, I was thinking I would really have liked to sign your chest with a sharpie, except it would have been in front of my daughter who had just told me, for the record, that wasn't on her list of likeable things about me."

They talked about some of the highlights of that case, while Kate thought back on the very beginning of the summer, the weekend before Memorial Day, where they had been walking together toward Central Park, and how they had joked about each other's behavior that evening at the book launch party. Before they knew it, they had finished their dinner.

"Care to have any more wine or are you ready to order dessert?", Richard asked during a lull in the conversation.

"On to dessert please, Mr. Castle", she replied.

While they were waiting for it to be prepared, Castle's look became distant for a couple of moments, the clear focused blue eyes became ever so slightly cloudy somehow.

"Kate", he began, his expression and demeanor now uncharacteristically serious, "I've been wanting to discuss a couple of things with you. In fact I had wanted to do it at the Hamptons one of these weekends, but well now here we are. You asked me if I could ever be serious while we were shut up in that room together . . . well now's the time."

"I know, I know", she replied in a rush, not being sure if she wanted to hear the next words out of his mouth. "I have a few things I need to discuss with you . . . I owe you a dozen apologies, I owe you a truthful explanation for my behavior, both past and present. And I couldn't even explain myself until recently. Now I understand why I acted the way I did. It's all my fault . . . I've been blaming you, and everybody, and I've been hiding, and now I know why. . . please, let me get this off my chest . . ."

Castle remained silent, with somewhat surprised eyes fixed on her, and motioned for her to continue. To him it looked like the moment of truth may finally have arrived, but apparently the Universe had other plans.

"There he is!", came a harsh whisper from near the bar area. "Get your telephoto . . . now!"

Well, maybe it wasn't so much the Universe as a momentary lapse in security. Cedrick had stepped away from his station to attend to something another guest had urgently needed, and had failed to warn his stand-in about unauthorized entry of paparazzi or Castle groupies heading toward the elevator. The watchdog chick in the lobby had seen the changing of the guard and took advantage of the situation, while sneaking her best friend from the Ledger and a couple of photographers that had shown up in response to her 'Castle sighting' text past the unsuspecting stand-in and up they went.

The head waiter had caught the disaster in progress and pressed the special call button for hotel security to get up there on the double, knowing that a very generous Richard Castle tip was going to vanish unless the disturbance vanished immediately. The foursome was heading for Castle's table as the four security guards exited the express elevator.

"Mr. Castle, what are your future plans with your lady friend here?", the Ledger chick blurted out.

"Frankly, I don't know . . . now that you're all here to interrupt our night out together", was all he could manage through clenched teeth.

The couple was saved further harassment as the security guards apprehended the intruders and led them away quickly. But the conversation had completely lost its momentum. The Universe had intruded once again, and they both decided rather than fight the Universe, they would end the evening. Castle told the head waiter to put the bill on his tab, and they would settle things later.

On the mostly silent elevator ride back down to the main lobby, Kate's detective sense kicked in. Castle had only kept his right side toward her the entire evening. It wasn't like him. He wasn't that vain so as to expose only his more photogenic side. She decided he was keeping something from her.

"Kate, I think we're done here tonight . . . I'm not going to try to apologize . . . what happened is beyond my control. I tried to take every precaution but I'm not going to fight the Universe. So let's just go our separate ways, and maybe we can catch up tomorrow, or later in the weekend", he rambled on as he motioned to the doorman to call for two taxi cabs. He put Kate in the first one and gave the driver a prepayment that would have just about covered any destination in the city. He reserved the second one for himself.

As he was concentrating on the conversation with the driver, he had no choice but to turn his left side in the direction of her view. Kate caught a glimpse of a bulge in Castle's jacket pocket . . . it looked to be about the size of a ring box.

She arrived back at her apartment just after 10:30 PM, still all dressed up and no place to go. Or rather no desire to go anywhere except to enter a deep dark hole somewhere and die there. It was over. She had pulled so many deceptive things, been so mean at times, wished she hadn't been seen with him . . . and now the Universe had finally listened to her and had granted her wish just as she was changing her mind about getting back on his side, about coming clean with _everything_.

She reached for her phone and called Lanie. It went to voicemail. "Lanie, could you come over please, I need to run something by you, please bring your favorite wine, I'm currently out. . . and that doesn't seem to be the only thing I'm out of right now", Kate said after the beep.

Her phone rang a couple of minutes later with the live Lanie on the other end.

"Kate, what's going on? I'm worried that it's not so good, coming at this time of night."

"Lanie, it's not good at all. I've blown it. Can you come over? I really need to talk it out."

"Sorry girl, I would want to, but I can't. I'm in frigg'n Canada right now with Dr. De Torres, in a cocktail lounge overlooking Niagara Falls. I'd send you a drink, but they haven't mastered teleportation with these phones yet. Please try to cope with it until Sunday evening when I get back, OK?"

"Ok, sorry Lanie, I understand. I don't want to mess up your evening too. . . bye."

After the conversation Lanie announced to Dr. De Torres that she had to powder her nose, and that the nose powdering was probably going to take a little longer than usual. But not to worry, because they were in Canada together, and he was driving, so she wasn't about to disappear anywhere.

She redialed Beckett's number when she found a place where conversation couldn't be heard easily. "You're not going to call _him_ are you?", Kate questioned between sniffs and sobs as soon as she answered the phone.

"Of course not, girl. He would know in an instant it's not a coincidence, and probably wouldn't be in the mood to answer it anyway. Now go out, get some wine, it might make you feel better . . . or better yet, it might make you feel less. I've got some other calls to make. You just be sure that Sunday evening is open for us, got that?"

"Got it . . . thanks Lanie, bye."

As soon as Lanie had finished with Kate she started her call list. Desperate times called for desperate measures as they said, and Lanie was unknowingly going to join Castle in his search for a final solution to the Kate Beckett problem one way or another. Rather than bother Alexis in the middle of something either homework or social, Lanie sent the request directly to her voicemail and marked it urgent. It went:

"Alexis, sweetie, this is Lanie in case you hadn't guessed. I need a couple of really big favors from you. There's a couple of private cell phone numbers that the public can never get their hands on . . . I need that information. It's for a very important reason . . . I promise I'll be discrete and will delete them as soon as I'm done. PS. Don't stir up your father about this . . . not a word . . .please, it's important."

As soon as that was done, she went to the website for Q3 and got the number. Although the kitchen had just closed, she knew there would still be plenty of activity at the venue and the owner, like always, would be in the middle of it.

"Hello, this is Vikki at the Q3 in Manhattan. I'm sorry, the kitchen has closed for the evening, and we are not taking dining reservations at this time."

When Lanie realized it wasn't a recorded message she spoke up: "Hello Vikki, this is Dr. Lanie Parish. I have a rather important, if not urgent, matter to relay to Miss Queller, if she' still there could you get her attention please?"

That did the trick. About a minute later, Madison Queller was on the line. When the conversation ended, Maddie was all business and Lanie returned to her business with Dr. De Torres.

"Francisco, I think we need to order another round. Remember I said I'd fill you in on that girl-thing at a later time? Well, maybe now is the time to talk about it, since we all have to work together, it's best you know so you don't step in it . . . know what I mean?"

"Is Trevor still here this evening?" Madison called out to no one in particular.

"Yes ma'am", replied one of the staffers almost automatically as he passed by her. "I'll get him for you."

When Trevor arrived, she gave him the following instructions: "I've just been informed of the need for a very important, and mind you very private meeting, that will take place here on Sunday evening, starting at 7:30 PM. I know it's last minute, but I want you to arrange a private table for six in the back room. You'll have to inform the party that reserved it for 9:00 PM that due to a conflict, we can only give them the semi-private table in the alternate room. . . they would have to share the venue with three other tables, but there are tasteful dividers and sound does not travel. If that's a problem, arrange to give them a voucher for a complete five course meal on us at a later time . . . it's for a party of four . . . that's the best I can do. Also, Vikki will be in charge of all operations from 7:00 PM until I'm available again; and you will be second in command. Watch the kitchen operations closely please. I will be attending to the visitors' needs personally the whole evening. Assign Roxanne as our server; she's mature and more importantly, discrete. Thanks Trevor, I know I can count on you."

Castle's taxi ride returned him to the Old Haunt where he entered unobserved and sat at his usual booth in the back. He needed to think . . . and think hard. Was it the Universe that had now somehow decided that they split up? It had seemed that the Universe had wanted them together after his summer in the Hamptons, the way they kept crossing paths in the KCBC case. As he sipped his glass of scotch, there was a sudden uproar at the bar, down on the end where the TV monitor was. Must have been a game being broadcast from the west coast. He momentarily focused on the sound.

There's a flag on the play . . . False start, five-yard penalty. Replay the down", came the barely understandable voices from the playing field, but understandable enough for Castle hear it and to groan at the irony applicable to his current situation.

He found himself having another meta conversation with his fictitious writer friend.

"Well Rook, I set up the plan, took the chance . . . and Boom! . . . the Universe intervened. I still don't have a straight answer."

"Neither do I, Castle my friend. What is it with these women?"

I don't know. I really don't know anymore. I think I'm gonna just take this as a sign from the Universe and go my separate way."

"Why's that Castle? There's still time on the play clock . . . didn't you just hear the ref? It was only a false start . . . you gotta replay the down. I mean . . . come on, think about it. You didn't get a Dear John letter, and you didn't sit down to write a Dear Jane letter, right?"

"Negative."

"Ok, so replay the down . . . that's what I'm going to do until I get it right, or I run out of downs . . . you know."

"Thanks Rook, you're a pal."

Castle ordered another scotch and began flipping through some websites that he had marked earlier as possible ideas.

"Well, when you care enough to send the very best, this might do it when other things fail", he muttered to himself half-heartedly. If he wasn't going to be too hung over tomorrow, he promised himself that he'd give them a call when they opened for business in the morning.

_A/N: To be Continued. _


	17. Chapter 17

_A/N: There is a scene in this chapter that I've been trying to envision ever since my son suggested it. I guess you could call it a writing prompt, but it was more of a 'hey, what if . . . what do you think would happen' idea. Getting a realistic situation to cause it to happen was another matter. The build-up I've chosen for this story kills two or three birds with one stone; the particular scene being one of them. Hope you agree. And this time it's not Castle who is on the receiving end. _

_Disclaimer: I do not own Castle – all credit goes to Andrew Marlow and the writing team for ABC's Castle; my thanks to them for providing a foundation for this little exercise._

**Chapter 17**

Castle awoke with a start. It had been a dream. One jumbled mess of images from which he could make no sense other than all of them had involved him and Kate Beckett. All of them were in tense situations – not one shred of peaceful time spent together. The few weekends in the Hamptons seemed to have occurred in a different Universe. Then he remembered the previous evening and the seemingly overpowering will of his present Universe.

He was alone in the loft. Martha had decided on a spa weekend in order to give her son the space he needed regardless of the outcome of the dinner for two. He had miraculously limited his scotch intake to only three double shots; nevertheless he awoke uncomfortable and with his pajama top soaked in sweat, which he attributed partly to the stress of the dream, and partly due to the effect of the alcohol. Other than that he felt pretty much OK. An extended shower and a light breakfast with plenty of coffee to wash it down had restored him to his normal functionality.

He sat at his desk trying to formulate a plan for the day now that it did not include Kate Beckett. He spun around in his chair and focused on the print of the spiral staircase. Twists of fate; that seemed to be what the Universe kept throwing at him and Kate. Messed up boat rides, messed up dinner plans, missed desserts, and missed opportunities to go along with them formed the list of twists he could think of. The publicity hounds from last night were completely in character for the evening. He had forgiven Cedrick when he heard how it all went down and had thanked the head waiter and head of security for coming to his aid so quickly. He only wished it had been some forty seconds earlier – like grabbing them as soon as the elevator doors had slid open.

"Completely . . . in . . . character . . ." he had repeated to himself, each word coming out with a longer pause, and a more hushed voice. Then he remained silent and stared at the print. _Come to think of it, just when was Kate Beckett truly 'in character'? She certainly hasn't been ever since she became seasick in the Hamptons. Find the reason she's acting out of character, and that will be the reason why she's having problems with the world right now – including me. _His writer as detective senses began to kick in. He remembered that case where the research scientist at the astrophysics lab had been murdered by explosive decompression and how he had hoped it might have had something to do with alien abduction. But the most important thing about that case was his discovery of what Kate was like in character both in the office and out. The latter was rare, in fact just as rare as his moments of complete seriousness. There was the in-the-precinct Kate. The kick butts and take names kind of Kate; and then there was the at-ease Kate, which he had seen at least twice in the span of less than twenty-four hours during that case. They had been abducted not by aliens but by government agents wanting to know what they knew about the murdered scientist. After questioning they had been drugged and returned to the patrol car. Kate woke up realizing her head was resting on his shoulder; and in that instant, she had been the at-ease Kate, feeling safe, and acting normal. She was pleased to be in his company even though at the beginning of the ordeal she was forcing herself to admit that her boyfriend, Rick Castle, might actually have been right about alien abduction. The two of them certainly had thought they were the latest candidates to be inducted into that hall of fame (or shame) at that moment. The glimpse of the at-ease Kate was exceedingly brief. When she fully realized what had happened she reverted back to her official precinct style Kate and acted like being in physical contact with him was a bad thing. Then there was the go into denial Kate the next morning, who wore a very high-neck blouse to cover the black and blue mark on her neck from the drug injection when she thought that everyone would conclude that she and Richard had been not on the case but on a joy ride and had given each other hickeys. And then again there was the at-ease Kate he had seen in the hallway of the apartment of the scientist's supervisor, who had become a suspect. He noted the glee in her demeanor when she had said 'unless we enlist the help of a certain government agent who wants him just as bad as we do'. It had been made by a confident, pleased with herself kind of Kate. The key to solving that case had been knowing who had been truly acting out of character. And now the key to solving Kate's case was trying to decide Kate's true character. Well, the one of going into hiding and denial could be eliminated as normal; so what was driving the in-the-precinct Kate?

A little reminder pinged on his phone calendar. He dialed the number of the website he had found the night before while at the Old Haunt.

"Flex your advertising muscle with Flexi-signs. This is Ben, how can we help you today?", came the voice on the other end.

"Well, hello Ben. I guess you could start by telling me some of the options you have for a temporary sign. I'm interested in a very short-term lease. Also an estimate of set-up and take-down charges would be very helpful", Castle went on.

Ben seemed to have had all the right answers because, for the first time in weeks, Richard Castle hung up the phone with a very broad smile on his face. Satisfied with his back-up plan, he spent the rest of the day poking around the internet and doing some research for a couple of scenes he was thinking about putting into the final chapters of his next book.

Early Sunday afternoon had been busy for Lanie Parish. She and Dr. De Torres had enjoyed a leisurely breakfast via room service, and then had barely made check-out time. It was a good thing her new boyfriend was acting as chauffer because she had been on the phone ever since they had crossed the Canadian/US border. About an hour and a half later she gave her full attention back to her weekend long date.

"Sorry about all of that", she said after she had terminated the last call. "But at least the best laid plans of mice and women have been set in motion", she added.

"No problem, I understand, and if I were in Richard Castle's shoes, I would appreciate every ounce of your efforts. You really are a good friend of Kate's", he said with an expression that showed he understood fully, having been briefed in detail about the tempestuous Beckett Castle relationship while sipping margaritas and enjoying the illuminated waterfalls.

The trees had barely begun to turn from summer green to their autumn colors so the trip into the city was relatively free of sigh-seers returning home, and therefore uneventful. Lanie made it back to her place with plenty of time to spare before the event would start. She called Maddie just to make sure.

"Is operation CW a go?", she asked when Maddie got on the line.

"Sure thing. You're clear on the entrance plan, right?", Maddie questioned just to make sure.

"Affirmative. See you there", Lanie assured her.

Lanie had sent a text to Kate well after midnight on Saturday, and another follow-up around one o'clock on Sunday afternoon, reminding Kate that Sunday evening was a mandatory meeting between them. She figured a voice call wouldn't hurt.

"Hi girl, I know you're not feeling at the top of your game", Lanie said after Kate had answered.

"Top of my game . . . how about bottom of the barrel, no make that underneath the floorboards holding the barrel upright", replied Kate.

"I know. Things can get better, I promise. Just make sure you meet me at the Q3 tonight at 7:00 PM. Ask for the CW party. They'll know exactly how to get you to the right place, OK?" Lanie explained, trying to make her friend feel as at ease as possible.

Kate got dressed in something at least appropriate to the venue she was about to visit and made the journey uptown to the Q3. She arrived just a few minutes early and said that she was joining the CW party, just as Lanie had instructed her. She followed the maître d' to the private dining area in the back, and found a large round table set for what appeared to be just two people. The maître d' assured Kate that her party would join her shortly and that Roxanne would be around very soon to take care of her. Kate sat alone for several minutes and studied her surroundings carefully. She noted that the place settings had been done so that she faced the door as was her custom. She began to wonder silently just what Lanie had planned.

Another long minute passed and finally Lanie entered also wearing an outfit appropriate to the venue but not something that was going to start a fashion competition.

"Lanie, what's going on here?", Kate asked. "Seems like a lot of space for just two people."

"I figure we might need to do some serious strategizing and might need the room to spread out", Lanie lied. "It's like a murder board, but this time it will be a strategy board, but we'll do it here on the table after dinner."

Kate looked at her skeptically, but finally bought into the ruse. At that point Roxanne appeared and asked if they'd like anything to drink. Both ordered a cabernet. Moments after Roxanne left, another figure appeared in the doorway; and yes, she had a very nice womanly figure.

"Oh good evening Gina", Lanie remarked in a matter-of-fact tone as Kate looked on somewhat bewildered.

Gina had no sooner entered when one of the busboys entered right behind her and fixed up a place setting for her. Then Roxanne reappeared and took Gina's drink order. About five minutes later, Kate heard a very familiar, and unmistakable voice – Martha Rogers. The same process was repeated. Martha also ordered wine. Another five minutes went by and the drinks came. No sooner had the first round of drinks been placed on the table, and Lanie was about to speak, when Meredith entered. Kate couldn't believe her eyes, yet everyone else treated the entrance as if it were an everyday event. Again the table setting process was repeated.

"So I think I've just figured out what the CW party is . . . it's Castle's Women, right?", exclaimed Kate.

"Good job detective, I knew you hadn't lost your edge", replied Lanie. "And . . . me and Castle's Women are going to help you become the woman Castle has always wanted", she continued.

"Meredith, I'm so glad you could get the evening off to join us. It really wouldn't have been complete without you."

"I'm just glad the filming was timed right", Meredith began. "They messed up something on the last take, and only discovered it at the last minute so the returns got cancelled, and we do a re-shoot tomorrow around noon, again providing that the natural light cooperates", she went on to explain. "Lanie, thanks again for inviting me. I don't know how much I can add to the party. Richard and I were an item a very long time ago. I take it things have become bumpy between him and Kate . . . Alexis only mentioned things vaguely . . . but we all have to remember that Richard likes to drive his chariot hard and fast, so things can get bumpy."

"Meredith, it's not his chariot that's going to wreck . . . it's mine. I'm the irresponsible driver this time", said Kate. "Believe me, thanks for taking the time. I appreciated your vote of confidence last time you visited. I only hope we can compare some more notes this time around."

"Well Becks, I see all the troops are assembled", said Maddie as she made her grand entrance, followed closely by Roxanne with the remainder of the before dinner drinks. Kate looked up in shock when she heard the voice.

"Maddie, you're going to be in on this too?" Kate asked incredulously.

"And why not? I've been on a date with Richard Castle, so I can be one of Castle's Women too", she said with a wink to everyone in general. "And besides, Lanie says my services are needed tonight. So you're all mine. The Q3's on autopilot until our business is finished."

"I propose a toast", commanded Laine. "To a successful Castle-Beckett relationship." All agreed, even Kate sitting there with a face almost as red as the wine on the table. "Oh, and by the way, I think we can all consider this a practice run for when Alexis graduates later next year . . . I'm pretty sure everyone received an email invitation from her, right?" As she directed an intense gaze toward Kate she said: "Right Kate? You _will_ be there this time . . ."

"I don't plan on hanging off the side of any buildings in either the near or distant future", Kate replied half-jokingly, half seriously; noting the strong implication that her future relationship with Richard Castle was going to work out for the best.

"Becks consider this a situation from 'Nebula Nine'. The door has been barred. The whole room is now surrounded by a forcefield. Roxanne is really a serving droid. Nobody is going anywhere until this is settled", stated Maddie with a wry look. She changed her expression and addressed everyone: "Actually, the restroom is that way . . . there is no forcefield . . . Roxanne is a real person and one of our best servers . . . and dinner tonight is on the house and is the chef's choice . . . she's got some new recipes she wants to try out and we're the guinea pigs."

Lanie motioned to Roxanne. "Please bring another round of wine, thanks." Then she directed her attention to Kate. "Well, girl you wanted to run something by us . . . so talk already, we're all ears; and let's not take an hour to get started. And while none of us have to get up at oh-dark-thirty tomorrow, we all have some place to be so let's not try to empty Maddie's wine locker tonight either."

"It all started at the Hamptons", Kate began. The room became quiet.

"Uh huh", murmured Lanie, knowing it had all started much earlier than that. She also became ninety-nine percent sure of the problem when she noted Kate's body language change as all the eyes in the room looked at Kate.

They let Kate talk. Martha and Gina encouraged Kate to talk about all the things she had felt each and every time she had visited the Hamptons. Martha recalled what it was like when they saw the place for the first time after Richard had been convinced to buy it. It had gone up for sale for a very 'reasonable' price in that part of the world, and Richard decided that a cash out of a couple of very hot investment funds coupled with one of the highest royalties checks he had ever received could make it part of the growing Castle empire. He knew Alexis would enjoy the beach, which was his way of saying he'd enjoy the beach too. Kate had remembered studying each room in detail on her first visit while Richard was doing some writing.

"You feel safe there, don't you Kate", concluded Martha. "I know I do."

"Yes, Martha. And that's just it. I'm there and it seems there's always something that threatens to pull me . . . I mean us, out into the public eye.

"Darling, I didn't realize it bothered you that much", replied Martha. "I guess I've become immune to it over the past few years . . . that is, the attention Richard always calls upon himself."

Meredith and Gina took over from there and talked with Kate about past events with Richard while courses one and two of their dinner were completed. The conversations slowed down considerably as courses three and four arrived.

"Oh this is just heavenly", exclaimed Gina as she enjoyed the food. "Maddie, you've got a magician in the kitchen", she concluded as everyone else heartily agreed between bites.

"So Kate, you've been seeing Dr. Burke again. Tell us what's going on", pried Lanie, while glancing over toward Maddie.

"Lanie why do we have to talk about that here?"

"You know why . . . unless you face this . . . your relationship is going to crash and burn. Besides you're among friends. Everyone here has had to endure at least some of the many Richard Castle mannerisms; some way more than others", Lanie replied through a broad smile at watching Martha go into dramatics as to her agreement on the subject.

"Becks, come on please, let's talk about it, we always have been able to do that in the past", inserted Maddie. Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Well yes, I've been seeing Dr. Burke", Kate began, while she threw a dagger look at Lanie. "Because this girl friend here made me do it."

"Soooo, what's going on", Lanie pried again.

"That's just it. He evaluated me and concluded that I have a mild social anxiety disorder."

"But Darling, you're not the least bit shy", remarked Martha.

"She's right about that", inserted Maddie as Meredith and Gina nodded in agreement. "Never has been."

"Doesn't matter. Dr. Burke told me that people with social anxiety may not be shy at all. They can be completely at ease with other people most of the time, but particular situations, such as walking down an aisle in public or making a speech, can give them intense anxiety", Kate explained.

"This all started way back during that summer when you had the wardrobe malfunction on your modelling job", gasped Maddie as the realization struck her, while shooting a thank-you look toward Lanie.

"Yeah, I guess it did. And getting shot while making the speech for Captain Montgomery reinforced it something big time. And now every time something happens to me out in public, which is generally with Richard, it was getting worse and worse . . . an I was blaming him for causing it", Kate confessed clearly becoming upset with herself.

Maddie signaled to Roxanne and a box of tissues immediately appeared on the table.

_Wow, they've really planned this out . . . looks like they've thought of everything . . . but I might still kill Maddie for spilling the beans on that wardrobe fiasco_ thought Kate as she plucked a tissue to dry her eyes. After a brief pause, she continued: "So it's a phobia, pure and simple, and I'm considered to be in the 'performance group' of people with this phobia, although that's an oversimplification of it."

"Nothing with you is simple, is it girl", remarked Lanie, but in a way to comfort Kate rather than provoke her. Kate understood her intent.

"So he's using CBT on me for the next fourteen weeks or so", Kate continued.

"CBT?" repeated Meredith.

"Oh, that's cognitive-behavioral therapy. And I've got in-vivo exposure exercises as homework in between sessions. And that's what I wanted to tell Richard on Friday night . . . and I went on and on, and I wouldn't let him talk. And I knew he had something he wanted to ask me because he got so different . . . so serious . . . and I wouldn't let him, because I wanted to get this off my chest . . . and then those idiots from the Ledger showed up. . . and I blew it" she gasped as tears began forming in her eyes again.

"How do you know you blew it?", Maddie gently asked.

"Because he had something in his pocket. I only saw it at the last minute just as he was arranging a taxi ride for me. It was a gift box of some kind. I mean, it could have gone either way . . . he was so out of character . . . either he was going to force me into a yes or no answer with a proposal; or he was going to give some parting gift to me and tell me it was over. I . . . I wasn't ready . . . it was too soon after all this stuff with Dr. Burke . . . I stalled him, and now the Universe has intervened."

"OMG!" they all exclaimed in near unison. "Well it's about time", Martha added, but muttered it under her breath, then looked up with a curious expression still on her face.

"So wait! Let's get this straight . . . Richard had something for you, but he never got around to talking about it, because you kept talking . . . and the paparazzi arrived as you explained to Lanie . . . and you two quit dinner and went home in separate taxis", Maddie expounded.

"Yeah, that's it", Kate replied, exhaustion manifesting itself once again from reliving the event for about the hundredth time since Friday night.

"Let's take a short breather . . . course number five is here", announced Maddie. Everyone agreed.

"OMG, this is marvelous. This couldn't have come from this planet", exclaimed Meredith when she had tasted the dessert. "Who is the pastry chef and where did he or she come from?"

"No I just have the one do-it-all chef . . . she's the one who replaced the big bad Wolfe after his demise", remarked Maddie with pride.

"You mean the time where I had you arrested on your date with Richard", asked Kate sheepishly.

"Yeah, that time . . .", Maddie replied with a knowing look.

"Well Kate", Martha spoke up, "I don't know what my son has planned. He hasn't revealed it to me . . . not that I expect him to, but I do want you to know that I had a discussion with him about what a serious relationship was, and that I hadn't seen any indication of such as of yet. . . and I'm going to just leave it at that", Martha concluded with a wave of her hands.

Meredith and Gina chatted with Kate in somewhat hushed tones as the rest finished dessert and sipped either coffee or an after-dinner cordial. They explained that there were probably a dozen reasons between the two of them why their marriages with Richard had not worked out; and now in retrospect how sorry they both were that about that.

"It wasn't him . . . it was us", said Gina speaking for both herself and Meredith.

"Yeah, Kate. I had told you that our marriage had only gone one way . . . that was my fault. I just hadn't tried hard enough to understand Richard", Meredith confessed.

"But I can tell you one thing that I never appreciated until now", added Gina, ". . . that he's a man of principled love, darn near unconditional . . . he is willing to forgive, and he always extended the benefit of any doubt he might have had to me . . . I threw all that away . . . and now there is no going back."

"Well I think I understand him . . . and now I think I understand myself", Kate replied, with a touch of superiority in her voice as she came to the realization.

"Then you know what you need to do next", stated Lanie and Maddie in stereo.

The CW team agreed that the dinner and the discussion had been a resounding success. Now all they could do was see in what direction the Universe was going to take Kate and Richard next.

_A/N: Like I said, when you've got someone like Kate Beckett, it takes a village to straighten it out. To be Continued. _


	18. Chapter 18

_A/N: Try to make plans when the Universe, especially this AU, isn't looking._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Castle – all credit goes to Andrew Marlow and the writing team for ABC's Castle; my thanks to them for providing a foundation for this little exercise._

**Chapter 18**

When Maddie and Lanie had seen the other four women on their separate ways for the evening, they returned to their table and had a debriefing session. When they finally got up to leave, they found the main part of the restaurant empty. It was past 11:30 PM.

"That poor, confused girl really does love him", Madison said as they headed toward the front door.

"Yeah, that she does", said Lanie in agreement. "Let's just hope their Universe doesn't talk them out of it", she continued. "You know, she was right about one thing. We both thought Castle would have gone for big . . . as in over the top big and splashy to make a statement. I was so wrong when I told her it was probably only dinner, but then I remembered what Kate had said to me after Ryan had proposed to Jenny in the precinct office. Kate didn't want big. When her day was to come, she wanted intimate. Well, Maddie, thanks again for this tremendous effort at the last minute . . . we'll be talking again soon. Good night."

Castle awoke with a start when he heard his phone ping. _Ah Crap! It's Monday morning already and I never got back to Beckett. I'll bet that's her wondering if we're ever going to talk about Friday night._ He began to worry as he reached for the phone and saw that it was a multi-media message from Alexis. With that his worry vanished and he assumed it was a picture of a test with a really good score on it. Not that he had asked her to supply such proof; she just liked to send him little reminders that she was still the responsible and studious one in the family. It had proven to be a good reminder as well as a good motivation. He had been on time with his chapter submittals for so many months now that Gina was beginning to wonder what miracle had been wrought upon him.

He opened the message. He felt like he had just been hit by a bolt of lightning as he looked at the series of pictures attached to the message and the caption, which read: just comparing notes. He could feel a cold sweat forming as he flipped back and forth between the pictures. _It can't get any worse than this! Gina . . . and Meredith . . . and Madison . . . and Lanie . . . and Kate . . . and my mother! . . . all in the same place at the same time? The Universe should have imploded by now. This is worse than worlds colliding . . . this is more like whole galaxies colliding. There are a thousand topics they could discuss, but I'm willing to bet the main ones were about me. I'm toast_, he kept thinking as he got up and started getting ready for the day ahead. He stepped into the shower to help wash away the feeling of impending doom. Apparently Meredith thought some visual documentation of the CW meeting was in order, so she passed her phone to Roxanne to snap a few truly candid pictures while everyone was talking with Kate. Meredith shared the booty with Alexis and had not told her to keep them to herself, so Alexis had felt the need to forward them on to her dad.

As he was getting dressed he changed his attitude. _Well, this isn't actually all that bad . . . no, this could be a good thing. All of them talking like that. That's bound to have allowed Kate to draw her final conclusions about me . . . about us. I'll get my final answer. It may not be the one I want, but this will have a solution and I can spend the rest of the year in peace . . . and get this Nikki Heat novel finished. I wonder if Gina already knows the answer._

He decided to find out. He called Gina about some of the edits made to his last chapters and used the opportunity to finesse some information as to where and when those pictures were taken. All he knew was that it had all gone down some time between Friday late evening and Sunday evening. That Meredith was the source of the information had not surprised him, but how someone had planned it to include her was evidence of a minor miracle. If Alexis had been correct, Meredith should have been landing in LA Sunday evening or maybe even earlier than that. Gina was delighted to talk about the chapter material Rick had provided, but anything even hinting at what she had been doing outside the office for the weekend was met with resistance and evasion. The pictures were not the only evidence for him to conclude that she knew plenty but must have been sworn to secrecy.

"Detective Castle . . . you're slipping old boy", he voiced out loud to his empty office as he checked Alexis' class schedule, which indicated she should have been between classes at the moment. "You've got to call your own daughter to get some evidence."

She picked up but said that he had to make things brief because she still had to complete a couple of things before the next class. She checked the back-up data on the pictures and found that they had been taken between 9:36 and 10:05 PM yesterday evening, which made sense because her mom had sent multi-media texts to her around that same time. Meredith had not mentioned where they were and the background was just too dark to give any further clues. It looked like Meredith wasn't anywhere near LA last night.

Flexi-signs Ben was the recipient of his next call. Castle decided a visit to the warehouse would be more productive than talking it out over the phone even though Ben had suggested a demonstration video. On his way over to the business address he had the taxi driver make a stop at the Four Seasons Hotel once again. There were a few details he needed to visually clarify first. Having got what he needed, he continued his journey.

The contract paperwork was done. Now all he needed was to learn how to control the device with a degree of confidence. One of the associates had set up a demonstration unit in the warehouse along with the internet control links needed for Castle to operate everything.

"Okay, that loaded as expected", said the rental assistant as he looked at Castle's cell phone screen. "Okay, see this web address? This is for your sign and only your sign. Each one is unique. That will get you to this screen. Now, go to the message editor . . . here", he continued to explain.

"Like this?", Castle inquired.

"Yes, exactly like that. You can enter up to ten messages as stored pre-programs." Castle typed in: 'this is a test', then saved it as: message-1. "Now hit execute and the drop-down box shows, then select message-1."

Castle did so and an instant later the sign lit up 'with this is a test' framed and centered, in bright yellow LED's. "That's the default color, you can select more than 100 shades, you can make them change, and you can make the text fixed or add other effects . . . look here under options for: message-1."

"Do you mind if I play with this for a while?", he asked.

"Not at all", was the associate's reply. Castle spent the next hour before he was satisfied or rather confident that there would be slim chance for operator error when the time came.

"And you're sure there is no problem with meeting the 'in-service' date", Castle asked once again before leaving.

"All the releases and everything else have been signed with the property manager and building owner, so you're good to go", the associate assured him.

When Castle returned to the Loft he opened the electronic invitation app on his computer and sent one. About an hour later the app alerted him that the invitation had been opened and read; and that the RSVP was: 'Yes, I will attend.'

_A/N: To be Continued. _


	19. Chapter 19

_A/N: Perhaps technology to the rescue?_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Castle – all credit goes to Andrew Marlow and the writing team for ABC's Castle; my thanks to them for providing a foundation for this little exercise._

**Chapter 19**

The day was slipping by quickly for some reason. Some time after one o'clock Richard sent a text to Kate, which read: 'I see you RSVP'd. I hope the invite was sufficient to demonstrate my point of view regarding last Friday evening. I believe the old adage goes: if at first you don't succeed, try, try again.'

Hardly three minutes passed before he received a reply: 'yes, Castle, we'll try again. See you this coming Saturday, thanks.' _Well, at least that's more like the Kate Beckett I remember from the past . . . and at least she said thanks . . . and at least she replied as soon as she got the text. Of course, if she's sitting at her desk doing only paperwork . . . then finding an excuse, like texting, to look away from that stuff is no big deal. Anyway, your fifteen minutes of fame will come Saturday night_.

Richard rechecked his daughter's class schedule, which indicated that she would be done for the day after her one o'clock class in Ocean Dynamics ended. He tried her number just after two o'clock.

"Hi dad, good to hear from you, what's up?", came the voice on the other end of the phone.

"Oh, a little bit of this . . . and a little bit of that", her father chanted, just to test her mood. "Things are going well here, and I hope that's the same with you."

"Actually, very well, got a good mark on the Ocean Dynamics homework problem even though it had some nasty flow equations to solve."

"That's my girl", Castle remarked almost automatically, and as usual, filled with sincere pride. "Listen sweetie, I have to apologize."

"For what? What did you do . . . or rather forget to do this time?"

"It's what I had forgotten to do. Remember you asked me if Kate and I were doing OK?"

And . . . well, are you?"

"I had declared that I would have the definitive answer to that mystery of the Universe after Friday evening, and here it is Monday afternoon . . . and no answer."

"Dad, I'm not sure I'm following you."

"Right. Let me back up. I had decided to give us a time out. I gave her the space she felt she needed. I have not been texting or bothering her; and I haven't invited her over here to the loft. The couple of times she seemed to have wanted to know more, I've told her that we'd get down to business last Friday night, but it seems the Universe wanted to intervene. We were about to do just that when a couple of page six watch dogs from the Ledger showed up and spoiled the moment. So here I am with no definitive answers."

Aw dad, I'm sorry to hear that. I thought things would be easier to fix as time went on between you two . . . not harder."

"So what I forgot to tell you is that this meeting is _serious_ business. And, it will be repeated this Saturday evening. I'm not telling you where, and don't ask your grams, or any of the other CW participants since your mother just had to take pictures. They had better not show up _anywhere_ that Kate might stumble upon them . . . that's all I can say.

"They won't dad. At least not from me as the source. I've deleted them already."

"Good. Thanks sweetie. So here's the thing. I'm expecting a definitive answer from Kate as to where we're going with this relationship. And the answer had better not begin with 'it's complicated'. Because if it is, then I'm going to start _un_-complicating my life."

"What's that supposed to mean?", she blurted out unintentionally, just as she had done with Kate not that many weeks ago.

"Just what it sounds like", her father said flatly.

They talked for another fifteen minutes or so about how campus life was treating her and if the food was tolerable. Castle reminded her that the food served in the loft was usually pretty good and both the price and the company were right. It really wasn't that long of a trip across town to take advantage of such an offer. Alexis said she'd take him up on that as a way of celebrating after the results of the mid-terms were posted.

After dinner, Alexis felt she had to talk to Dr. Parish. She got a text back soon after sending hers asking if 10:30 PM would be too late. Lanie was at dinner with Dr. De Torres telling him what had gone down at the Q3 last night. But she didn't plan to stay out too long since everyone had to go to work the next day. Alexis checked the time and figured that might give her just enough to finish the next set of Ocean Dynamics problems before the call.

"Dr. Parish, I've got some serious news", Alexis rushed the words just after she had greeted Lanie.

"I take it it's about your dad and Kate" surmised Lanie.

"Exactly. It sounds like my dad's planning on breaking up with her."

"Are you sure?", came Lanie's voice with a degree of surprise mixed with concern.

"I'm pretty sure. I mean, at least he sounded like that was the plan when I talked to him this afternoon."

"Well Alexis, thanks for the heads-up", concluded Lanie after they had talked for some ten more minutes, discussing pretty much the same things Alexis had just done with her dad.

Tuesday slipped through everyone's fingers. Kate's team was called out on a new case. The ME's office became busier than usual, and Castle found himself buried in some research for the closing chapters of his latest novel. He was content to return to one of his favorite places, the NYC public library – the Stephen Schwarzman Building location to be exact. He could get lost in there for hours on end.

"What have you got Lanie?" questioned Kate upon answering her desk phone late Wednesday afternoon when she saw the extension from the ME's office displayed.

"I think you had better come down here and see", she said as she motioned to Dr. Morris to continue with the close-up work and finish on his own before the end of the shift if at all possible.

Kate made her way through the tunnel, her heart beginning to quicken with each step. Lanie had not been specific as to the reason for requesting a visit to the morgue. It could have been something regarding their latest homicide case or it could have been one a Lanie's mandates to come and talk about something else entirely. Either way her tone had sounded commanding and ominous. Kate's suspicions were confirmed as she entered the morgue and found Dr. Morris at the work table and Lanie occupying one of the back offices alone. She motioned to Kate to come and join her. Two cups of coffee were at the ready.

"So what's up Lanie?", Kate began with some trepidation. "I thought I had an approved action plan when we left the Q3 Sunday evening."

"I'm not sure. So did I." Lanie began with a distant look in her eyes. "Listen Kate, you know how we women get all worked up about how some man in our lives is behaving . . . or not behaving . . . you know what I mean?"

"I don't follow you.

"Like mentally or emotionally we draw an imaginary line in the sand and say to ourselves that if he crosses it or doesn't cross it, or whatever, we're going to be through with him."

"Oh that kind of worked up. Yeah I follow you now."

"Listen Kate, have you ever thought that it can work both ways?"

"You don't mean . . ."

"Yes girl, I do mean that Castle might have had enough of you. Some time ago we had that conversation before he showed up with the blonde bimbo stewardess where you commented that you felt it had been weird between you both. And remember I replied that it hadn't just been lately, it had been nearly four years of nonsense. Well, we're darn close to another year since then. I mean . . . I don't know . . . and I can't confirm anything, but I don't want you to go into your next round with Castle thinking everything is going to be a dream come true . . . by the way is there going to be another round?"

"Yes, Saturday night", Kate replied as she pulled out her phone and showed Lanie the new electronic invitation.

"Well girl, all I can say is this. We allowed ourselves to misread the situation once before. But this time you cannot afford to misread the situation . . . there will be no retakes. Please be realistic about whatever may happen."

"Lanie, who has gotten to you?", Kate wanted to know, a degree of irritation entering her voice.

"A little red-feathered bird voiced her concerns to me . . . and leave her completely out of this . . . this is your stage and your performance alone", Lanie warned. "Just be hopeful, but realistic. Don't be yourself. Be the new Kate Dr. Burke is working on with you . . . be uncomplicated, OK?"

Kate made her way back to her apartment feeling more tired than usual. She set her bag of Chinese take-out on the dining table but then didn't really feel like eating anything. She turned on the TV and poured herself a glass of cabernet. She reasoned that perhaps after a glass of two of the red stuff both her hunger and her courage to face the rest of the week would return.

The rest of the week dragged on very slowly for Richard Castle and Kate Beckett. The rest of NYC didn't seem to notice. Saturday night finally arrived, and the meeting arrangements were the same as from the Friday before; only this time there were several discretely placed hotel security personnel scanning the lobby for anybody paying too much attention to the entrance of Richard Castle. Two additional security guards were stationed by the elevators at the rooftop level. Castle had left his phone on charge the entire afternoon; nevertheless, he checked it almost every hour to make sure everything was working. He approached the device as if it were the most valuable thing he had ever owned. In between those glances at the phone, Castle had been pondering over what had driven Kate to act the way she had . . . until he was 'weak and weary' as Edgar Allen Poe would have said. But weary or not, he had come up with a pretty good theory.

Kate put on a brave and confident face in front of the mirror as she was getting herself ready for the evening. Lanie's words were doing their best to erode what little confidence she had regarding the outcome. She checked herself again. She knew what she had to do . . . and she knew what she shouldn't do. Just stick to the plan. It was simple. She left the apartment looking so unlike the Kate Beckett known at the 12th precinct office.

Once again at the rooftop restaurant at the Four Seasons Hotel, they were shown over to their semi-private table, which had been moved to the southwest corner of the venue this time. Kate had been seated so that she faced the buildings on the other side of Fifth Avenue. The sun had set, leaving only the deep red-orange streaks mixed with purple and gray clouds low on the western horizon, what little of it could be seen between the tall buildings. Castle noted the scene before he seated himself. He was assured that things would go as planned when he saw how his rented sign had been strategically place. The single green LED in the lower right-hand corner was illuminated showing that the power was on and the program was ready to roll.

The dinner conversation started out slow, the words between the two carefully guarded as if some corporate negotiations were taking place. As they sipped their wine, the conversation began to pick up; yet, Kate could still hear Lanie's words of warning mixed with the blood pounding in her ears. Other than making the blood's whooshing sound even louder, the wine didn't seem to be doing much else to calm her. The waiter explained the specials, a couple of which were only being offered to Castle's party of two, and then left with their orders.

"Kate, I've been thinking . . .", he began.

_Oh God, here it comes. I remember that was just how he began the conversation the week before the Hamptons, when he said he thought we needed a break, and it would be our last case together. Well, looks like this might be our last dinner together_.

"I'm sure you have, but I'm scared to ask about what", she replied with a worried tone and wide eyes.

"Well it's about our trips to the Hamptons. And there's only one thing different between all the former times and the last time . . . so . . ."

"So you've got one of your crazy Castle theories, right?" she interrupted. "Well I've done a lot of thinking too . . . and . . ."

"I think I know what the problem is!", they both blurted out simultaneously, just as they had often done when they both had arrived at the same conclusion as to who the killer was in their latest homicide case.

They looked at one another in astonishment. It had been quite a while since that had happened and it felt really good to experience it again. From there the conversation went more naturally and the second course was extremely enjoyable. Again, the weather was cooperating nicely, but the staff had turned the infrared heaters on low. The subtle heat made it feel like they were dining in the sunshine, yet the sky was now pitch dark. Kate took the opportunity made by the staff lighting the heaters to study Castle's clothing carefully—her detective senses kicking in automatically. The result was disappointing. _God, maybe Lanie was right, as good as this evening is going, maybe it won't matter. Maybe I've crossed the line in the sand and there is no going back_.

The final course came and went. Kate tried to keep the conversation light. They both focused on the good times and the successful cases they had enjoyed together. As Castle signaled the head waiter, Cedrick showed up. The two men made casual conversation with the couple as the head waiter got Kate to focus on some of the more upscale after-dinner cordials. As she did, Castle took a message from Cedrick and then pulled out his phone. Kate looked up after a minute and saw him playing with the phone.

"I would have thought that you could leave that thing alone for just one evening", she said in a mock scolding tone. "I turned mine off, since I'm not on call."

"Oh, sorry about that, but this was important. I'll try not to do it again", he replied as Cedrick and the waiter left their company.

A moment later, the sign on the building across the way came to life by displaying the time in large red numerals, with the seconds advancing at the expected rate. Kate immediately noticed the change.

"Oh look, the new sign just powered up", she commented, as Castle twisted in his chair to see what she was talking about. As he twisted back in her direction, he pressed another button on the cell phone app.

A moment later, some letters began marching from left to right, below the display of the time. The letters stopped and grouped together, centered below the time: _Tempus Fugit_. Kate's heart leapt into her throat. _Oh please, this can't be happening . . . he's going to publicly humiliate me for all those bad things I did to him at the precinct. He's gonna tell the whole world it's over._ Richard studied her facial expression carefully. She looked at him for a moment, then looked down at the table. She couldn't meet his eyes. Castle took the opportunity to glance at his phone again and to press another button on the app.

Kate looked up to see the sign change again. The digital clock disappeared, and the following letters took shape:

_It's Time To Ask_

_The Extraordinary KB_

The sign held those words as Kate Beckett felt like she was going to faint. She caught herself, and suddenly, the murmurs from some of the other patrons at the rooftop restaurant became clear in her ears. It had become obvious them as it was to any Castle fan who the extraordinary KB was; and the extraordinary KB was about to get the question of a lifetime from a man that a significant percentage of his female readership would have liked to receive. She was about to explode . . . about to run . . . but suddenly remembered Lanie's words to become the new Kate Beckett that Dr Burke . . . that was it . . . Dr. Burke. She immediately began her coping exercises. That's right, slow and easy she told herself.

"Are you OK? It looks like you zoned out there for a moment", Richard commented.

"Yeah, I'm OK", she replied as best she could.

"Then shall we continue?", he asked, and as she nodded 'yes' he tapped another button on the app.

The sign responded:

_Will You Marry Me?_

_RC_

_Always_

She gaped at the words. She was sure she was imagining them. As she brought her focus back to the table, she saw him there, studying her expression, and holding an opened ring box with a rather large diamond sparkling even in the low light.

"Well, you do know how this works, don't you?" he asked with a smirk.

"Yes . . . Yes", she stammered.

"Is that yes, you'll marry me, or yes, you know how this works?"

"Yes, I'll marry you Richard Castle!"

By this time the patrons had figured out that KB and RC were the ones seated over at that table set apart from the rest, and everyone there broke out into applause. Castle tapped one more button on the cell phone app, but this time the sign was slow to respond. He waited with some frustration. What he didn't know was that his little public display was on its way to jamming the internet. The Twitter servers had already overloaded with the massive traffic of tweets and re-tweets.

_A/N: Oh, we're not done yet. To be Continued. But in the meantime, I really would like to know if I successfully extracted myself from a hole that was deeper than I am tall. Kate had always maintained that people, including Castle, only thought they knew her – but they really didn't. She had been right, but with enough time people finally do figure things out; even if it takes a village. It's good to have that village populated with your best friends._


	20. Chapter 20

_A/N: Sorry for the delay in getting this next chapter out. I had some real work nagging at me so I'm sure most of you know the drill… and the other thing was that my outline had stopped there so I lost a bit of momentum._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Castle – all credit goes to Andrew Marlow and the writing team for ABC's Castle; my thanks to them for providing a foundation for this little exercise._

**Chapter 20**

_What the heck is taking this thing so long? I'm sure I hit the right message program. _Castle's frustrating thoughts must have expressed themselves on his face. The look certainly wasn't expected as Kate glanced up from the ring and saw him.

"Was . . . was that not the answer you were expecting?", Kate asked with a worried tone as the broad grin, which she had found impossible to hide moments before, automatically vanished, being replaced with a look of uncertainty and worry.

"Oh, no. It's not that. It's me versus technology again . . . that's all, really", he replied as his facial expression softened considerably. Then he glanced back down at the ring box.

Kate's eyes followed his. After another long pause, the sign sprang to life again. The message began to form:

_She Said YES!_

The letters were sparkling in multi-colors as little fireworks bursting effects were displayed in the background. Meanwhile a fair number of the restaurant patrons had made their way over to the area where Kate and Richard were sitting. Kate saw the sign change – well who could miss it at this point? And as she glanced at it, Richard discretely got up and went to her side of the table, got down on one knee, and as soon as she took note of it, he took her hand and slipped the ring on her finger. Cell phone camera flashes went off as if the owners were in a news conference with the President. For once, the two of them didn't care what was going on in the Universe outside the confines of their dinner table.

"Well Miss Katherine Houghton Beckett, consider yourself formally engaged to be married", he announced, trying his best to sound serious, yet at the same time trying to choke back the swirl of mixed emotions he had not expected.

Meanwhile, across town, Alexis was out with a few of her dorm friends who were just about as serious as she was regarding homework on the weekends. The work for the next week had been finished and they were just about to start celebrating when Alexis got a ping on her phone from her Twitter account. Although her father had long ago told her to stay off the Castle fan sites and not to follow him on Twitter, she had been faithful to that mandate until after she turned eighteen and had moved in with Pi. As an additional effort in her rebellion, she had begun to follow the activity on those sites, even though she knew from experience that at least eighty percent of the stuff posted wasn't true or was only half-truth. But this time was different. Several dozen new posts had appeared almost simultaneously. Alexis stared at the news. 'She said YES. Can you believe it?' Slowly the impact began to sink in. Her dad and Kate Beckett were engaged!

"Guys! You're not gonna believe this . . . my dad just got engaged", she gasped as she continued scrolling through the long list of new tweets.

Immediately the friends pulled out their phones and found the site she was talking about.

"I'm pretty sure this isn't fabricated", Alexis announced. "My dad had mentioned to me the other day about this meeting with his girlfriend . . . that it was going to be serious business. I'm pretty sure this was the business he meant, but I thought . . .", she trailed off. "Excuse me, I've got to make a quick call", she continued.

As she left the table, she dialed Dr. Parish's number.

"Hi, Dr. Parish", she began just as soon as Lanie picked up. "I've got some interesting news for you."

"And what might that be sweetie?", Lanie replied with the question.

"Remember I thought that my dad was going to break up with Kate? Well, it wasn't that at all . . . in fact, just the opposite. The followers on Twitter are all saying that he proposed, and she said YES", she concluded in a rush.

"Great news Alexis! I hope you're not mad about getting it second hand like that. Just to let you know that I wasn't any more informed than you were. Alexis dear, your father is a very principled and kind man . . . one of the most patient and forgiving individuals on the planet. I hope you realize that and appreciate it. Now you know that I have to make some phone calls too."

"Yes, I do . . . on all counts", Alexis replied, remembering the evolution of events during her brief chapter on living with Pi.

As Alexis returned to the table with her friends and a new reason to celebrate for the evening, Lanie called the Q3 restaurant. After a minute or two Maddie was on the line.

"Well girl . . . Congratulations! Mission accomplished", Lanie announced with true southern dramatic flair.

They talked about it for a few more minutes, both knowing that Maddie had a restaurant to run on a busy Saturday evening. When Lanie tried to call the other members of the CW team, she was met with the announcement that all circuits were busy and to try again later. In fact half of NYC seemed to be getting that same message. Voice over IP was impossible, and the internet was slower than a snail on an October morning. Kate Beckett really did get her fifteen minutes of fame.

"I know this is the part of life with me that you really hate . . . but we're gonna get through this . . . we can make it work", Richard whispered encouragingly in Kate's ear after they had finished dinner and were making their way past all of the guests still hanging around the rooftop restaurant.

They smiled and waved, thanked numerous people for their congratulatory remarks, and made their way toward the express elevator. Their eyes had been assaulted by more camera flashes than one could count. The confines of the elevator car were welcomed but short lived. They arrived at the lower level of the parking garage to find a private car waiting for them.

"What do you have in mind Mr. Castle?", asked Kate with a teasing tone mixed in, as the entered the back seat of the car.

"I thought we could consider the impact of this evening while unwinding at the Hamptons", he replied.

"Castle . . .", she replied, using only his last name out of habit from the precinct, "you know I have to work on Monday, and I . . . I don't . . . I didn't bring anything . . ."

"Bibidie Bobidie Boo", he chanted as he pointed to a small travel bag on the floor beside them, "problem solved. Hey, even if it's for just a day . . . it's a day I don't think we want to miss . . . or rather it's a day I don't want you to miss. Besides there are some things I really want to discuss with you . . . uninterrupted by the NYPD universe that so often intervenes", he concluded.

She rolled her eyes at the expression remembering the time when he had invited her to a formal dinner and fund raiser early on in their so-called relationship. Only problem was that she hadn't had a thing to wear, and Lanie had looked through her collection of clothing and declared it a social disaster waiting to happen; and further, not to even think of pulling out her prom dress if she happened to still have it hanging around somewhere. He had bought a dress for her and had had it sent to her apartment that very early evening before the event; and had written on the card: 'Bibidie Bobidie Boo' as if the same magic that had helped Cinderella would be applicable to her. Hah. How he had known her size, and who he had been talking to in order to obtain that information was still a mystery, perhaps one that she would solve by extracting that information from him at the Hamptons. Yeah, she loved him . . . was hopelessly in love with him, even if he did at times resemble the ring master of the Castle circus.

"Have you told anyone . . . about this . . .about us", she asked suddenly after a few minutes of silence.

"Don't have to . . . I think the sign and Twitter have already done that. In fact I'm sure everyone knows about us . . . what they don't know is that we're going to the Hamptons, and we'll slip in there tonight under the cover of darkness. . . Oh Crap! . . . the sign", he exclaimed as he remembered he hadn't turned it off.

He extracted his cell phone and sent the power-down message to the sign. About a minute later the device went dark, with only the single green LED illuminated in the lower right corner. The contractor would be there the next day to remove the hardware and everything would be back to normal he explained as he put the phone on silent and pocketed it.

The trip out of Manhattan out to Long Island was peaceful at the time of night they were travelling. As Castle had said, they arrived undetected around 12:30 PM. Even the moonlight was sufficient to bring out the sparkle on Kate's new ring. It didn't take the detective training she had received to notice that.

_A/N: To be continued. There's at least 5 – 6 chapters more to bring this to closure. Please enjoy. Reviews are welcomed. Thanks to all of you who are following this._


	21. Chapter 21

_A/N: I had to get this chapter down on paper right away as numerous conflicting thoughts were wrestling for dominance on which direction the plot would take next. Kate has been broken for so long. How about an AU where Kate finally gets fixed? Is it even possible? Well, I'm going to try my hand at it._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Castle – all credit goes to Andrew Marlow and the writing team for ABC's Castle; my thanks to them for providing a foundation for this little exercise._

**Chapter 20**

Castle tipped the driver well for his becoming available on such short notice and made sure the service knew of the arrangements for pick-up the next evening around 7:00 PM. He and Kate stood in the doorway and watched as the car drove off. Richard turned to his new fiancé with a question.

"Kate, remember that case where Ryan and Esposito had been taken by those guys who wanted to do away with you because you were way too close to the solution to your mom's unsolved case? And remember that little act we came up with to distract the lookout? And remember something that turned out not to be so much of an act . . . like you know . . . that first real kiss? How about we make that a new custom for us whenever we enter this house?", he concluded finally.

"That was a lot of questions . . . but yes to all of them", was her reply as she leaned into him tightly. "I definitely want to repeat that kiss. We haven't had one like it since."

"You sound serious", he answered back with a hint of surprise.

"I am serious. Oh we've had plenty of good kisses; I'm not denying that, but not one like that first unexpected one", she said as she reversed the roles, reached up, pulled him down to her level, and planted one on his lips in the same passionate manner they had shared after about fifteen seconds into what had begun as an act a couple of years ago.

"Yeah . . . that was amazing" he gasped as he came up for air. "Yeah, I think this should definitely become a Hamptons custom between us."

"You didn't happen to pack a nightgown in this thing", she said after she recovered her breath and reached for the overnight bag setting on the floor next to the doorway. "Which room? By the way . . ."

Although it had not been their initial plan, they both fell soundly asleep after only a few minutes of cuddling in bed. They both awoke just after daybreak the next morning. Kate checked the overnight bag, which turned out to be nearly a closet full of items for just about every contingency. She found a jogging suit of the weight necessary for the cool morning air expected for the time of year. If Castle was anything, he was certainly observant. Castle had been awake enough to smirk as he secretly watched her go though the bag. She made her way to the bathroom with the loot. After she had attended to her morning duties, she returned to the bedroom and nudged him awake again.

"Well sleepy head are you gonna get dressed or what?", she teased. "The day's well along and we have to go back later this evening."

"If you're not careful, you're gonna get pulled back into this bed, and you might lose that cute jogging outfit in the process", came a voice from underneath the pillow that had been pulled over his head.

"Umm, sounds tempting, but I think I'll see you downstairs. I'll start the coffee, but I want you to make all the final preparations . . . that's another custom that we should keep here, and at the loft, and at the precinct", she murmured as she made her way toward the bedroom door.

After she had made her exit, Castle wrestled himself out of bed and found a jogging outfit for himself in preparation for their after-breakfast beach run-walk-whatever. He didn't care what they were going to do, just as long as they were doing it together. For the moment though, the idea of any boat ride was out of the picture.

After she had loaded the coffee machine and started the cycle, she found her cell phone and turned it on. It must have beeped with about fifteen messages after it had initialized and found a signal. She was still going through the texts and voice messages when Richard made his way into the kitchen with his phone in his hand also experiencing the same problem.

"Looks like we've just had our fifteen minutes of fame", he remarked as he held up the phone to display the pictures that people had posted on the fan site.

There were pictures of the electric sign from just about every vantage point imaginable showing the sequence of the messages, but the one he liked best of all had come from someone at the rooftop restaurant. The two of them had remained in the darkened foreground, making nearly black silhouettes against the bright light of the sign in the background. It was a keeper. That one was going in his office; no doubt about it.

"Oh, by the way . . . best wishes from: Alexis, my mom, Gina, Paula, Lanie, Karpowski, Maddie, Esposito, and Ryan just for starters", he remarked as he scrolled through the texts that had piled up.

"Umm, maybe it's none of my business, but when did you talk to my dad?", she inquired as she held up a congratulations Katy Bug text from her father, just as Richard was coming over to the table with a cup of coffee that had the familiar heart sculpted into the creamy froth on the top.

"It can be your business if you promise, and I mean really promise, not to get all bent out of shape about the circumstances when it came up", Richard admonished in a more serious tone than usual.

"Ok, Ok, I get the point", Kate replied in surrender, which was quite unlike her former self.

"It was after they had dealt with the guys who were trying to kill you. I visited him at his favorite coffee shop to let him know that I thought I had fulfilled my vigil regarding the situation, and since we had become an item, I felt is was time to ask him even though you and I had not even mentioned anything of the sort between us. He told me we had his blessing whenever the time would come. All he wanted was his daughter to be happy because he had not seen her that way in a long time."

"Yeah, parents always seem to be right. I didn't realize until I went to bed last night that I hadn't been happy like that for a very long time", she remarked casually.

"Ah yes, tell me about it", he murmured as he sipped his coffee and thought about the conversation he and his mother had not that many weeks ago. "When we're through here, let's take a walk on the beach."

They decided to walk along the public sector of beach facing Long Island Sound rather than limit themselves to just the private sectors accessible from his deck, which were not all that long of a walk before fences and rock barriers blocked passage. They found the air quite warm due to the heat still contained in the water, but every now and then a breeze from the northwest mixed with it and one could detect that unmistakable chill of early autumn creeping in. The jogging suits had been the correct choice. They got lost in thoughts and conversation.

"You know, I think we had better head back, we've been out here nearly and hour and a half already. No sun screen either. I think people are going to know we've been out at the Hamptons when they see what color our skin has turned after we're back in Manhattan."

"Too bad for them. Let them eat their hearts out, knowing that we spent time on the beach and they didn't; and the memory of their little summer vacations has already begun to fade."

"Wow Beckett. You really sound sorry for them", Castle mocked.

After they returned to the house, found showers, changes of clothes, and lunch, they made their way to one of their mutually favorite rooms – the library. There they made themselves comfortable; the one who loved to read books, and her husband to be, the one who liked to write them.

"You know Kate, I think we've been engaged for a little over fourteen hours now, some I'm going to risk a rather explosive question. I hope this doesn't ruin it", Castle began the conversation. "But you might remember I did say I had some serious stuff to discuss with you while we're here . . . and now we only have a few more hours before we have to return to the routine in Manhattan."

She looked at him for a moment, wondering just what might be coming next. "Ok, I'll give you that", she began. "Why don't you explain to me what you think the problem is for starters, and then we'll go on from there."

"Ok, to put it in the words of my mother . . . I'd say you've got stage fright Kiddo", he began. "When Kate Beckett knows she's about to slip up in public, things start to go sideways. Am I on point?", he concluded with the question.

"Pretty much. Both Lanie and Dr Burke have pinned me down on the matter, and yes, that is my current problem", she replied as a matter of fact. "Dr. Burke has me on a sixteen-week program to help straighten things out", she added.

"Umm, I'm glad to hear that. Well, I have an idea; and here's the question. Well, in a minute. You know we've been serious partners for a while now . . . you and me; and I mean in the precinct for the moment. And you know that Captain Gates wasn't the least bit pleased with the way you handled your post traumatic stress and the whole sniper thing. So here's my point. Would you let me help you in my off-the-wall-Castle-fashion? Would you be willing to sign a release to let me discuss something with Dr. Burke?", he questioned meekly.

The old Kate surfaced mentally. _Here we go again. Meddling in my affairs as if I were a child or something . . . Ok, Ok, he is my husband to be. I guess he truly wants to help . . . but I don't see what he could do that a professional like Dr Burke isn't already doing_. "Well, Ok, but I'd like to know what you have in mind before I say yes", she finally countered.

"I was afraid you were going to say that. Look Kate, I'd rather not say at this very moment. Not that I don't want to tell you, it's just that Dr. Burke may not agree and tell me to stick it where the sun doesn't shine. But hey, there's always a chance he might think it's good therapy", Castle responded, clearly grasping at straws.

"All I can say is that I'll think about it", she replied.

"When's your next session with Dr. Burke? You can request the form and sign it then if your answer becomes a yes. It's completely up to you. You don't have to face me or tell me a thing. I'll know the answer if I receive the release form from him. Then I'll talk to him. Fair enough?"

"Fair enough Mr. Castle."

They fixed a light dinner at a rather early hour and enjoyed a single glass of wine each along with it. With some sadness as to how fast the time had passed since their arrival the night before, they packed up and took the ride back to Manhattan and the work day awaiting the next morning. Kate had forgotten to tell Richard that her next appointment with Dr. Burke was at 7:00 AM, which didn't leave her much time to fret about signing the release document. She decided to take the Scarlett O'Hara approach and worry about that tomorrow, as she dozed in Richard's arms on the ride back. Dr. Burke must have been doing something right because for the moment, the old Kate was nowhere to be found.

_A/N: To be continued. There's at least 4 – 5 chapters more to bring this to closure. Please enjoy. Reviews are welcomed. Thanks to all of you who are following this._


	22. Chapter 22

_A/N: Sorry for mentally playing with you folks by mistake. The site showed the previous chapter as 21 although I forgot to correct it in the document (so there appeared to be two chapter 20's back-to-back – not so; it's been fixed along with another typo.) So we'll get on with chapter 22 below where Richard Castle launches the kind of scheme truly in character for him. Hey, a man set foot on the moon 50 years ago this weekend – so like most people thought back then – anything's possible._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Castle – all credit goes to Andrew Marlow and the writing team for ABC's Castle; my thanks to them for providing a foundation for this little exercise._

**Chapter 22**

"Excuse me! But did I just hear that correctly . . . come again?", Kate stammered as she heard Dr. Burke's analysis and recommendation.

They had been in the session for about forty-five minutes or so. Dr. Burke had asked her to keep a log of sorts, preferably written since the demands of her job tended to make a mental log become very hazy and unreliable after two or three days and the sessions tended to be a week to ten days apart. She had dutifully logged each of her incidents; there had been at least six of them in the past week, but little wonder given the proposal dinner and all that went along with it. He had also asked her to do her best to jot down exactly what she was feeling when the pangs hit, where she was, who she was with, and how big a crowd may have been involved whether they seemed to be paying attention to her activities or not, and what she and others directly involved with her were doing at the time.

"All I said was that I'm going to recommend three to four weeks of medical leave for you . . . Oh and by the way, congratulations on your engagement to Mr. Castle", Dr. Burke remarked with a smile after he had read over her entries for the past week.

"Three to four weeks! Oh no, you can't. Captain Gates is going to flip out when she hears that", Kate exclaimed while becoming more worried by the minute.

"She might flip out, as you have said, but doctor's orders take precedence" he replied while continuing to study the details of her log book. "Looks like most of your episodes seem to be induced while in the presence of Mr. Castle", he finally remarked.

"That's not rocket science Dr. Burke, I could have told you about that correlation a couple of year ago", she shot back.

"Yes, but you didn't . . . did you? So what were you trying to hide?", he questioned smoothly.

She remained silent for almost a minute while Dr. Burke patiently waited for her answer. "That I didn't have a problem", she began. "Homicide detectives just don't have phobias. I told myself I was being silly. Get over it. I could handle it. Castle put up with it all the time . . . and so could I."

"Well we're making progress. The session for today is pretty much over. I'll send the medical leave order over to Captain Gates directly, so you won't have to deal with it; or rather, with her. It's effective immediately. Let's make the next session two weeks from now and then we'll see how you've been doing. This next round of therapy should prove to be very interesting . . . and I believe will be quite effective. I think you're actually going to enjoy it" Dr. Burke said as his smile broadened. "Set up the details with Jennifer on the way out, OK?"

Kate had made it back to her apartment and closed the door, while back at the precinct, Gates flung the door to her office wide open and called for the remainder of Kate's team.

"Esposito! Ryan! My office. Now, please", came the stern order. The two of them rose from their desks simultaneously and made their way over to what they considered to be the torture chamber.

"Yes Sir?", they inquired in unison.

"What is it you're not telling me this time?", Gates demanded while giving them looks that shot fire from her eyes.

"I'm not sure what you mean Captain", Ryan replied.

"What I mean is . . . close the door first", she commanded, as Esposito, who was closest, quietly closed the door to her office. "What I mean is that I just received an order to place your team leader on paid medical leave for a special, off-site, therapy session . . . so what I want to know is what details have you been withholding from me this time? Did something happen out in the field that was conveniently left out of the reports?"

"No Sir", they both replied. "We're just as surprised at the recommendation as you are Sir", Esposito replied, while Ryan nodded in agreement. "She hasn't mentioned anything at all . . . you do know that she accepted a marriage proposal from Mr. Castle", he added.

"Yes, I do. The whole world, including me, knows about it", Gates replied with some distain. "Keep me informed if you happen to learn of anything . . . you're dismissed" she said and waved them back toward their desks.

"Well that's just great", Ryan muttered as he sat down. "She hasn't mentioned anything at all . . .", he repeated Esposito's words in a squeaky, mocking tone. "When has she ever mentioned anything like that to anyone?, was his hypothetical question.

"Yeah, tell me about it" hissed Esposito. "We just get a lead on who might have been behind our kidnapping in that building being renovated across town, and she goes off on leave, and we get to do all the leg work."

"Yeah so? What's new? We get to do most of the leg work most of the time anyway, whether Beckett's here or not", Ryan stated flatly.

But their sour feelings dissipated rapidly as soon as they had left the confines of the fourth-floor office and took in what Manhattan considered to be fresh air. Running down a lead, no matter how small, was always a good excuse to get out of there and enjoy a few moments of peace before confronting who knew what.

Earlier that morning, Kate had decided that she really didn't have anything to lose when it came to granting access to her medical details with Dr. Burke. After all, it was only for sessions with him, and didn't apply to any doctors or personnel outside of that. She computer-faxed him the required form and copied Castle with it.

As soon as her fiancé had opened the email, he sprang into action. He had excitedly explained his plan with Dr. Burke, who had sounded a bit skeptical at first, but as Castle outlined the progressive details, Dr. Burke considered its merit. He finally decided that it certainly couldn't hurt; and if nothing else, it would provide Kate with a realistic environment to deal with her problem. He relented and approved the plan, telling Castle that he would inform Kate of the medical leave during her session that was going to start only a couple of hours from then.

It was just about noon when Kate's phone pinged with a text from her fiancé. 'This may sound like a dumb question, but are your travel documents in order? – Your passport?'

'Yes' she sent a text back. _Well, this is Castle we're talking about. Something's up, and I'm willing to bet it has something to do with the news I just got. God, I hope Gates doesn't put the clues together too fast . . ._ she thought as she put the phone on the table. She looked around. Something seemed to be different; as if someone had been in her apartment while she had been out for the morning. But before she could investigate further, the phone pinged again.

'OK GREAT! Pack a make-up bag, your purse, your passport . . . that's all you'll need. I promise. Meet me downstairs in thirty minutes – SHARP! We're running short on time'

Remembering the contents of the emergency overnight bag Castle had packed for the impromptu Hamptons trip, Kate decided not to second guess the text message and made her way to the bathroom and packed her favorite make-up and toiletries and other personal items. That gave her just enough time to find her ID and passport, put the NYPD equipment in a safe place, and check the apartment before locking the door and heading to street level. The moment Castle saw her he opened the door to the taxi and waved her over to where they were parked.

"You sure don't give a girl much time to get her act together", Kate panted as she got in beside him.

"Don't worry, everything else is taken care of", he said casually, with a familiar smirk forming as he finished the sentence. "Cross town, over to DeWitt Clinton Park", he instructed the cab driver.

As they were approaching the vicinity of Twelfth Avenue it suddenly dawned on Kate that they weren't going to DeWitt Clinton Park; in fact, they weren't going to be staying in Manhattan.

"Richard Castle! This isn't an afternoon in the park is it?", she asked with a stern face that indicated that he had better be forthcoming with a straight answer. "No it isn't", he replied, and then leaned forward and instructed the cab driver to take them to the pier 94 cruise terminal entrance.

"How did you arrange this so fast?", she questioned, truly surprised as the sight of the docked cruise ship came into full view.

"I'm rich . . . well, maybe not James Patterson rich, but I've got resources . . . and connections. By the way we're in a suite on Deck 12. I think you'll like it. Great for watching the sunset this evening as we're leaving the Hudson and heading out toward Bermuda . . . they say it's nice this time of year."

"How long are we going to be gone?"

"Seven days, eight nights. Sounds like fun to me", he remarked through his smirk.

"Well what about change of . . ."

"Clothes? Oh I had Lanie sneak over to your apartment and quickly pack your favorite things; besides she knows you better than you know yourself. I'm sure her selections will be just fine, and if not, there's always shopping aboard the ship. I had everything sent on ahead, including I don't know how many pairs of shoes. I hate dealing with bags and security. We'll use the VIP entrance.

"You're a sneaky devil, you know that?", she remarked as she thought about the collusion involving Lanie. No doubt she was going to share some texts with her before they were out of cell tower range.

The VIP entry was pretty much like a first-class lounge at one of the better international airports. Their passports were checked, and their on-board ID cards issued; and of course, the baggage had already been inspected and sent up to their suite. Really, there was nothing else left to do except get on the boat and start enjoying the trip.

And that's when it hit her. She was going to have to share Richard Castle with some thirty-five hundred other passengers, after they figured out he was on board. She figured the little purse-sized log book that she had packed wasn't going to be big enough.

"Tell me something", she commanded as she grabbed his arm just before stepping on board. "Did you put Dr. Burke up to this?"

"Who me? Why Katherine Beckett . . . why would you ever ask such a question?"

_A/N: This is going to be fun . . . (I hope you all agree). I'll try to get the next chapter out late next week. Got a really busy weekend starting tomorrow, and some real work still nagging at me for the next few days after that. Enjoy the ride. _


	23. Chapter 23

_A/N: Richard Castle launches his plan. _

_Disclaimer: I do not own Castle – all credit goes to Andrew Marlow and the writing team for ABC's Castle; my thanks to them for providing a foundation for this little exercise._

**Chapter 23**

They took a few moments to observe the splendor and opulence of the main deck's central reception area. As always the cruise line's interior designers had mandated the fit-out contractor to supply the very best quality, and most eye-catching appointments. Of course there were the obligatory glass-enclosed elevator cars, six of them to be exact, which carried the pampered passengers above and below the main deck. Everything was trimmed out and framed in small, unobtrusive, strings of color changing of LED's. The VIP reception had allowed them to board well ahead of the general crowd. Nevertheless, the staff were at their stations. There were at least two bartenders, a small army of waiters, and plenty of comfortable places to sit along with small cocktail tables. For those who just couldn't wait to start loading up charges on their new ID cards, the bar was open for business. Castle decided to gauge Kate's mood.

"Want to see the suite first, or would you rather explore the ship in relative peace and quiet before the crowds get here?", he inquired innocently.

"Let's see the suite first. Besides, I'd like to change these shoes", she replied.

"OK, the suite it is", he agreed as they entered the elevator lobby and pressed the call button. "But don't be disappointed, the bags, including the shoe collection, may not have been delivered to the room yet."

"OK Mr. Castle, I'll try not to get upset . . . but there is one thing I want to know. How did _you_ know that Lanie has a key to my apartment?", she questioned, squeezing his forearm with a serious grip that she generally reserved for grabbing suspects with the intent to apply handcuffs.

"Well . . .", he began as the elevator doors opened, and they stepped in together, allowing him to hide a slight wince from the pain she was inflicting just above his wrist. "As you know . . . being a good detective . . .ouch! Stop that, OK?", he pleaded as she had increased the pressure even more at hearing the 'good detective' remark. "What I mean is . . . that I saw a key to _her_ apartment on your keyring . . . I figured it had to be hers since you had marked 'LP' on it; so I figured like any two BFF's you had traded keys just in case of emergencies. Now let go of me, pull out your keys, and prove me wrong", he concluded as the elevator began its ascent. "Oh, and by the way, everyone out there can see us in here", he added for insurance.

"All right. Fine. I don't need to pull out the keyring because your supposition is correct", she hissed back in a subdued tone as if they could be overheard as well.

As they continued toward the bow of the ship, down one of the long corridors toward their suite, Castle began to explain that this ship had stabilizers so he didn't expect seasickness would be a problem. And he promised, that no matter what happened, there was no way he'd ever try being 'Captain' again – so not to worry. As for the quick booking, he had stumbled on the offer: 'Can You Sail Today?' on the internet, found it both intriguing and interesting, and with a hefty discount to entice the buyer since most cruise lines had a policy that the ship sails one hundred percent full of passengers. He figured the non-traditional departure and return days must also have had something to do with it. But none of that really mattered because here they were – by some minor miracle of the Universe.

"You and your Universe", she remarked. "Just remember, Bermuda is at the apex of the Bermuda Triangle, so I'm going to hold you to that . . . I hope your Universe can keep itself under control for the next week or so. And as for you . . . you had better keep _yourself_ under control now that you have a fiancé shadowing _you_ around for a change", she concluded, allowing herself a broad smile as she felt the impact of the change in focus.

As they explored all of the details of their suite, Kate became quiet. She went over to the sliding glass doors that opened to a small, private patio area on the starboard side. Unlocking it, she slid it open and stepped out. Castle had been checking the refrigerator to see if his request had been fulfilled yet – everything was in place. Upon seeing her alone, he stepped out and joined her.

"I'm sorry, but I never asked. Have you ever been on a cruise before?"

She looked at him for a moment. Sadness crept into the corners of her eyes although she did her best to maintain her outward countenance. "Yes. Once before when I as fourteen. My mom and dad took me along for a family cruise. We went to Alaska and even though I never admitted it to them, I had a great time", she replied as she looked down at her feet, trying to suppress the urge to cry at the memory of her mother. "And then there was that summer you had gone to the Hamptons with Gina. . . Lanie had suggested a get-away cruise with me just to take my mind off of things . . .you know . . . but it never happened."

"Oh, I see" he replied quietly. "Well, for what it's worth . . . here we are now. Good view of the sunset as we head south later this evening", he added, changing the subject.

She brightened at the thought of the two of them together, sipping wine or champagne no doubt, feeling the motion of the ship beneath them, and watching the sun become a red ball sinking below the horizon; its red rays reflecting against the dark blue-gray surface of the ocean. She was looking forward to that. Looking forward to the now.

"There's something I want you to take a few moments to consider", he said after they had re-entered the suite and were contemplating themselves as a couple in front of the full-length mirror by the closets. "I don't care if it takes three minutes or even an hour; just as long as you think about it ahead of time, because I'm pretty sure it's bound to come up sooner or later."

"Now what are you talking about?", she wanted to know.

"Well, let's just say it's about how you like to sign your name; or your initials for that matter. You know that when you become Captain of your own precinct. . . and you know you will some day soon, because you're gonna ace the Captain's exam the first time you take it . . . you're going to have to sign mountains of paperwork. I thought it might be a good time for you to see how it actually is going to look on paper. You need to pick one that can be done fast; you can't be too fastidious about it, because like I said, there's gonna be mountains of documents."

"Uh huh . . . like this has something to do with police work", she remarked. "Taking time on a cruise to worry about signing my name as a police Captain for a position I haven't even applied for yet . . . now what' wrong with this picture Mr. Castle?", she continued as she switched into her classic mode of questioning suspects in the interrogation room.

Castle, having been on the receiving end of that kind of questioning before, backed up a little. "Well since you put it that way . . . you might also try envisioning what Nikki Heat's signature might look like as well", he managed to get out as she retrieved a small pillow from the sofa and winged it at him in one fluid motion.

"Thought so. This really is about signing autographs isn't it?", she questioned as she reached for the second pillow.

"The idea had crossed my mind", he replied as he dodged the next round.

They spent the remainder of the time exploring the ship from top to nearly the bottom since the crew's quarters were off limits. Castle mentioned that they could probably sign up for one of the behind-the-scenes tours later in the trip. He had also arranged for the late dinner seating so that they could return to their suite and watch the promised sunset and sip some wine before dinner – alone. They got the dreaded life-vest and muster station drill out of the way and took in an hour or so on the Ledo deck before retiring to their private patio. Castle had put on a Tee shirt, baseball cap, and dark sunglasses before they left the suite so as to look more like one of the cruising guests rather than a best-selling author of the Derrick Storm and Nikki Heat murder mystery series. Kate did something similar so as to suggest she was anything but an NYPD detective, inspiration for Nikki Heat, and a love-struck woman who had just recently accepted a proposal for marriage. And just for once, their poker-faced acting was working in the right context – nobody seemed to pay them any mind. Perhaps it was because everyone was too absorbed in the views from the middle of the Hudson River, the passing of the Statue of Liberty although the sun didn't cooperate at all for taking good pictures. And finally, the optical illusion that the ship was too tall to fit under the Verrazano Narrows Bridge kept everybody in suspense. But dinner later that evening in the main dining room was probably going to be a different story.

"You know we can have everything brought to the room rather than go out in public . . . if that's what you'd prefer", remarked Castle, again gauging what Kate's reaction might be on being seen with him in front of a large crowd of strangers.

"Now I know you've talked to Dr. Burke! You didn't waste much time did you? I've got to hand you one thing Castle, you can sure put a plan together in a darn short time. Maybe you're a good partner after all", Kate replied first with a threatening tone, which smoothed out to become a good-natured voice. "Let's go out to dinner Mr. Castle."

They got dressed in something more appropriate to the main dining area and off they went. Neither of them had bothered to look on page six of the NY Ledger over the past few days – they didn't want to know. Both Gina and Paula had also refrained from bothering them with the details. An although Lanie and the rest of the team read about it, they also restrained their fingers from sending texts to the pair. Even Alexis had been silent. Interestingly enough, after the big hoopla of the proposal, a follow-up article had in an offhand way admonished the readership that the two really didn't like being interrupted when they were out together. Apparently, most of the ship's patrons seated for dinner that evening had read the article, or maybe they were just being discrete out of first day on the ship politeness; which made the evening surprisingly quiet. But that didn't stop the word from spreading like wildfire that _the_ Richard Castle and his fiancé (the extraordinary KB) Kate Beckett aka Nikki Heat were on board this cruise.

They slipped into the after-dinner comedy show just as the lights were dimming and sat in one of the back rows; yet still had a good view. After the show they slipped out quickly and made their way over to one of the karaoke bars; again sitting in the back just to take in the entertainment.

"Think you could do that?", Castle whispered to Kate after a particularly good contestant/volunteer had belted out her rendition of the way Aretha Franklin sang "Respect" way back before they were born.

"Maybe in the shower . . . alone . . . with the bathroom door closed and locked . . . on a good day", Kate whispered back as she sipped a glass of cabernet.

"That's what I thought you'd say", he remarked as he also took a sip of his scotch.

They clinked their glasses as if in a toast. Somewhat later, they retired to their suite. While Richard was in the bathroom getting ready for bed, Kate pulled out her log book and jotted down how she had felt upon entering the main dining area and being seated with her new fiancé. She had become adept at applying the coping exercises. Castle had appeared not to even notice. While Richard was washing his face and brushing his teeth, he thought about how much harder his little plan was going to be to execute than he first thought. Sure tonight had been pretty easy, but he was surprised at her reaction even in the safety of the darkness of the karaoke bar and the small crowd gathered there.

There were two things that made the first evening on the cruise complete. First, before lights out, was that kiss they had shared in trying to distract the lookout guy in that case they had a couple of years ago. And second, after lights out, were a couple of rounds like they had shared the first time together in the Hamptons bedroom. The digital clock displayed 2:25 AM as sleep overtook the worn-out pair.

_A/N: The therapy picks up momentum in the next chapter. . . Enjoy the ride. Let's hope Kate does._


	24. Chapter 24

_A/N: Richard Castle launches his plan, part 2. _

_Disclaimer: I do not own Castle – all credit goes to Andrew Marlow and the writing team for ABC's Castle; my thanks to them for providing a foundation for this little exercise._

**Chapter 24**

They awoke just around sunrise. Both of them had morning routines but since space and options were limited under their present circumstances, they both happily synchronized their efforts. Having donned jogging outfits, they headed up to the open-air deck above the Lido and began the seemingly endless laps needed to complete two miles. After the first mile, Kate began to count her blessings that NYC had a place like Central Park. Castle readily agreed as they mutually decided to reverse the direction before they went crazy. The on-board gym was a better follow-up.

"I guess we should have opted for the formal dining room to have breakfast", Richard commented after they had found seating for themselves not far from the cafeteria-style food service lines. "Sorry Kate. I don't think today is going to be nearly as peaceful for us as yesterday." She nodded agreement and concentrated on her coffee, which he had prepared for her and still found a way to sculpt a heart on the surface without the help of the coffee machine at the loft.

The first wave of autograph seeking fans had spotted them within two minutes after they had entered; having completed their respective workouts and showers. Not that it would have mattered which dining area they chose. The rumor mill aboard ship was in full production and anyone who was a Castle fan had heard the news already.

"Hello. Is it really you Mr. Castle; and you, Miss Beckett?", questioned a young couple as they approached the table, both clearly agog with the prospect of actually meeting the celebrities in the flesh. "We just loved _Heat Wave_. I think we've each read it three times already."

"Here we are", they both responded simultaneously, although they had not practiced for it.

The foursome chatted politely for a couple of minutes. Richard informed the couple that he didn't think the shipboard venue was an appropriate one for signing autographs since his presence wasn't sponsored by the cruise line. That excuse seemed to work. They couple reiterated how glad they were to have met Kate and Richard and thanked them profusely for the few moments of their time. Afterwards, Richard hoped the word would get around and the pressure would subside by the end of the day. Kate was rather surprised that he had not jumped on the idea of autographs; after all, book sales were his bread and butter. At the same time she was relieved that there wasn't going to be a crowd forming; at least she hoped there wouldn't be one. She pulled the logbook from her pocket and quickly jotted a few notes while Richard went to get refills on their coffee.

After breakfast Kate found her way to the on-board spa and salon while Richard found a spot out of the direct sun near the stern of the ship where he could set up his laptop and get some writing done. In doing so, he opened the scratch folder where he had been storing those weird conversations between himself and Jameson Rook.

"Well Rook. I finally got a direct answer – and the answer was 'YES' she apparently wants to be with me for the rest of her life. To tell you the truth, it looked like she was going to say 'No' on that first round. You were right. I guess it's a good thing to have replayed the down. . . I hope you and Nikki can work things out. I know you Rook. You'll figure it out."

It appeared that his tourist-on-a-cruise-vacation disguise, very similar to the one he had used the previous day, was working. A couple of people gave him second and third glances, but no one was sure enough to come over and ask if he was Richard Castle. The fact that he looked busy and didn't want to be disturbed also helped. With that he got down to some serious writing. Kate had agreed to meet him for a late lunch, so he had some time.

It also gave him the time to figure out how he was going to progressively involve Kate with bigger crowds and a brighter spotlight shining upon her. He decided to give the karaoke bar a second shot. When she wanted to, and when she thought no one was listening, she could sing quite well. It was pleasing to hear – at least he thought so. With the right motivation, a number of things could be possible. Suddenly he remembered that stupid song he had to listen to over and over when his mother had been in an off-Broadway production of _Annie Get Your Gun_ . . . 'anything you can do, I can do better. I can do anything better than you.' Even Alexis had hit him with that line the first time she had beaten him soundly during their sessions of laser tag. He had not expected her to learn stealth techniques so quickly. _And so Miss Beckett, we'll see if you take that bait,_ he chuckled to himself as he formulated the next phase of his plan.

After lunch, they killed the remainder of the afternoon with a behind-the-scenes tour since they still had a full day and another night at sea. They decided to take in the early show before dinner just to see what the young talent pool had to offer. Richard was glad that his mother was not in attendance; especially since she had sounded rather miffed at his announcement of their departure and designation on such short notice. Not only that but her absence also spared everyone the loudly whispered running commentary on who was or was not good at their craft as the show unfolded. That was one thing Martha had never tried – performance on a moving ship. Oh she had done something sitting on a moving float in a parade or two in her much younger years, but dance numbers and balancing acts with the prospect of a sudden jolt from the ship hitting a wave wrong at the wrong time was something not every aspiring actor had experienced. Castle wondered how they managed it. He would have to find a way to ask someone because, well, one never knew when it would come in handy.

After the show, they made their way to the main dining room and were seated promptly. Since everyone near their table now knew who they were, conversations were quite animated. The dinner hour seemed to have passed in only a few short minutes. Before everyone knew it, desserts were being offered. Richard had the remaining bottle of wine sent up to their suite.

"Well Miss Beckett", Richard began as they strolled through the main lobby after dinner, "is it the same old song and dance, or is it the dance and song?"

"What are you getting at?", she replied with the question.

"I mean, do you want to sit at the piano bar for a while; or would you rather relive your clubbing days and see what the disco has to offer tonight? Come on! What's to lose? I didn't see any helicopters delivering Captain Gates to the ship today, so I think you're safe", he remarked with a taunting tone.

"OK Mr. Castle. Let's see just how in shape you really are. I'll take you for few rounds on the dance floor", she replied, with a you're-gonna-be-sorry demeanor. They circled the lobby and headed in the direction of the disco bar.

"You know, I'm going to make you regret this", she said as they made their way toward a small table near the edge of the dance floor. Castle wore his broad smirk but said nothing – only got her seated with true 'James Bond' flair.

And regret it he did. At least physically speaking. After at least forty consecutive minutes and about five or six fast-paced numbers, he finally was allowed to sit back down. He needed a drink. As he sipped it slowly, he remembered her parting remark at the end of their first case together. "You have no idea", she had said in response to one of his sexual innuendos. And she had been right. He had found that out the night after Alexis' graduation ceremony. And that was _after_ she had already spent a tremendous amount of physical effort trying to keep herself alive. He really shouldn't have been surprised that she could unleash that kind of energy on the dance floor. _God that woman can move. I'm kind'a glad I didn't meet her when she was twenty-something. I'd like to think that another decade has slowed her down at least a little bit._ One thing was for sure, she had garnered the attention of everyone present. He could smell her – as well as himself. All of the personal hygiene items working overtime to keep their bodies more or less socially acceptable. It was a moment like this that the moniker Nikki Heat was really applicable although he wasn't going to dare mention it. His imagination had captured something similar - what she might have been like after running full out in pursuit of a suspect. Sitting there for a moment to take a breather, hot, sweaty, breathing hard, him watching her, as she watched the uniforms put the perp in the patrol car. That's when she became Nikki Heat. But his reverie was interrupted as another of her favorite numbers began to play and she yanked him back out onto the dance floor.

He had somehow survived round two. After another twenty minutes or so, there was a round three. Richard called for a truce, and when that didn't work, admitted an all-out defeat. "Yes you were right. I think I'm regretting my dare", he finally said, hardly able to catch his breath. It was well after midnight. On his way to the restroom, the disc jockey caught his attention and whispered something.

"So what did your friend have to say?", she wanted to know when he returned.

"Oh nothing special. He just wanted to congratulate us on the dance moves we've been showing off", he replied casually. They finished their drinks, listened to a few more numbers, which didn't seem to be as inspiring as those earlier in the evening, and finally headed toward their suite for the night. _Yeah, this just might work_, he thought to himself as he turned out the light by the bed.

The ship was in the process of docking while they were taking their morning jog on the open-air deck. They had the whole day and night to do whatever they wanted on the island. They delayed breakfast on purpose. That way, a significant portion of the passengers could get themselves fed and be the first to rush off the ship and onto the island, which left things much quieter for those who weren't in a hurry. Kate and Richard were not in a hurry at all. Richard especially wasn't in a hurry for much of anything. He hadn't admitted it, but he had a really hard time completing the morning jog after the exertion from the night before. He pushed through the pain and stiffness of under used muscles, wore his typical poker face, and acted like nothing had happened.

"You know, since we're here, we're going to have to make our way over to St. George's, and least see the beach with the pink sand on the way over", Richard remarked as they finished breakfast. "They sure don't have pink sand on Long Island, so we've got to stick our toes in it just to say we did. Oh and by the way, there's a Coney Island, and a South Hampton here too", he added.

"Well then Castle, what are you waiting for?", she remarked in an offhand way.

They made some last adjustments to their tourist outfits and dark sunglasses, checked their ID's and cash reserves and departed. Castle had hired a private car for the entire stay, complete with tour guide/driver. At his recommendation, they skipped dinner on the ship and savored some local fare at one of the finest restaurants on the island. They arrived back at the dock just before ten o'clock that evening.

"You're not ready to retire for the evening are you?", Castle inquired after they had freshened up a bit and were sitting on their patio, sipping some of the wine from the night before.

"What's the matter Castle? Starting to feel your age or something?", she teased, having noted that he was hiding his sore muscles from the dancing the night before.

"No. Not at all. But I get to pick the venue this evening", he said, with a hint of challenge in his tone. "And the venue is the karaoke bar. And the challenge is which one of us can sing Billy Joel's _Piano Man_ the best – bet you can't", he continued with the taunt.

"We'll see about that", she huffed. "Since when did you think you could sing?", she taunted back.

Much to Castle's delight, they found the karaoke bar in full swing, populated by a significant number of guests due to the informal competition being presented. Winner for the evening would have his or her bar tab covered by the house. _It can't get any better than this_ Castle remarked to himself. Things were falling into place nicely. Drinks and words flowed smoothly for the next couple of hours. Everyone seemed to be enjoying the self-made entertainment. Castle actually became a bit nervous when placed under the spotlight for his rendition of _Piano Man_, mainly due to the fact that everyone in the place either recognized him immediately or very soon thereafter were informed about his identity as a whisper swept through the audience. He did quite well for himself. The applause was loud in recognition of his effort, but the applause Kate received was even louder. As expected, the women stole the show. Around 1:00 AM, the emcee declared a final number for each of the three finalists.

OK, ladies. We're going to select the artist . . . and each of you is going to select a song done by that artist . . . and may the best woman win", the emcee announced as he passed in front of the audience holding a handful of white envelopes. "OK sir, would you pick on of these at random?", he inquired as he stopped in front of one of the patrons. The man picked an envelope and announced the artist as the emcee pointed the microphone at him: "Sara Jackson Holman is the artist tonight."

At once, Kate heaved a deep sigh. Castle looked at her but said nothing. After another minute, he changed his mind. "Are you OK with this? . . . Because if you're not, I'm sure you can find a way to back out gracefully."

"No, I'm OK", she replied as she studied the list of possible numbers scrolling on the screen. She already knew which one she was going to use. She hoped the other two women wouldn't pick it first. She was going to find a way to do this even if the world had to come to an end. She also knew it would produce a two-page entry in her little log book.

"All right folks! Here's the lineup", the emcee announced after each of the finalists had entered their selection. "Miss Jenkins will entice us with: _Do I Make It Look Easy_; Mrs. Woodworth will cover: _Cellophane_; and Miss Beckett will take on: _Into the Blue_."

"Knock 'em dead", Castle whispered to her as she got up to take the stage. And that she did. The voting for first place was done by intensity of the applause, which she clearly deserved.

She returned to her seat beside Castle and began to cry after she had been announced in first place.

"What's wrong?", Castle whispered in a worried tone. "You did one heck of a performance. I didn't know you could sing like _that_."

"Nothing . . . and yet everything", she whispered back. "I'll tell you about it when we get back to the suite. Let's go now."

Richard put his arm around her waist, bade everyone a thanks and good night, then swept her out of the bar.


	25. Chapter 25

_A/N: Kate and Richard reflect on their crazy past. Kate remembers that evening of the poker game in season 2, episode 24: "A Deadly Game". My little experiment in allowing canon to spill over into the AU. _

_Disclaimer: I do not own Castle – all credit goes to Andrew Marlow and the writing team for ABC's Castle; my thanks to them for providing a foundation for this little exercise._

**Chapter 25**

They arrived back at the suite. Kate had calmed herself down during the walk back but remained usually quiet. Richard was somewhat puzzled at the sudden downturn but didn't pry. He knew she'd start talking when she was ready.

"Care for anything else to drink?", he asked, testing the waters. She nodded a 'yes', then sat down on the small sofa and kicked off her shoes.

"The cabernet please", she said in an unusually small, soft voice after a moment as she pointed to the opened bottle at the ready. Richard immediately complied and poured her a glass then sat down on an ottoman facing her.

She took a long, slow sip of the comforting liquid. As she did, she remembered many of the evenings during which she had taken similar sips of cabernet, but not nearly as fine as the one she was now drinking; all of them having something to do with moments in their past, troubled relationship. New tears began to fill her eyes.

"Kate . . . I'm truly sorry that I got you into . . .", he began but she cut him off with a wave of her free hand.

"Castle", she began, "It had nothing to do with the karaoke thing and all the people. Actually that was kinda fun. It was the song."

"That song? Then why did you pick . . .?" But again she waved her hand for him to stop talking for once.

She dried her eyes, pulled her legs up under herself and curled up on the sofa as she put the empty wine glass on the tiny end table.

"I was just remembering the significance of that song for me. And I picked it because I _just knew_ that would be the one I could sing with heart-felt, genuine feeling. It wouldn't come across as pretend – acting", she began to explain.

"Can't argue with end result", he murmured back.

"Anyway the reason I knew it would work was because it had to do with us", she continued.

"With us?"

"Yeah, with us, but before you really understood it was us. Actually, it was before even I understood it was truly us", she sniffed.

"OK, sorry, but I'm not sure I'm following you", he said as gently as he could manage.

"Well, do you remember when we were on that case together where the vic was shot by the jealous husband because the husband's cheating wife was out playing spy with her new lover?"

Castle remembered all too well. It had been the night of his poker game since his writing buddies had been in town. He could still see the scene flash clearly through his mind. The confused and somewhat forlorn look on Kate's face as he left her standing in front of the murder board as he nonchalantly announced his departure for the evening was still a clear image. And him wondering what her problem was since it was already clear that she was going to have fun with her new boyfriend on a New Jersey beach somewhere during the Memorial Day weekend rather than accept his invitation to the Hamptons. All he had to do was show up for the end of the case celebration later in the week, say his goodbyes, and shuffle off to the Hamptons to get some real work done for a change. But then the boys had really needled him during the poker game; which got him to thinking that maybe Kate really was more of a distraction from his craft rather than the muse he had initially thought she was. And that is what had prompted him to call Gina and become involved with her again. Castle nodded a 'yes' to her question and let her continue.

"Well, after you left. I felt really confused. I truly liked Tom, but after a few minutes standing there alone, and after Esposito had come over and stated his mind to me, I began to realize that Tom was never going to fill the void that had opened up when my _real partner_ had walked out. I sat there at my desk with those loud buzzing florescent lights just driving me crazy, and the yet to be solved case driving me crazy, and my messed-up relationships driving me crazy, so I put on some music to drown out the literal as well as the virtual noise and it was that song that got to me . . . the one I just sang. And I began to think of why I just couldn't open up and let you into my life; why I kept thinking of it not working out. The song lamented about all of those if only this and if only that; and it made think about if only I had just accepted your Hampton's offer as we walked down to the murder scene. And then later that evening, it became clear that Tom thought it was time we could get in bed together during the weekend; and I compared that with your promise of no funny stuff; that you'd let me have my space, or whatever. And like the song said, that's when I decided I'd take you . . . at least take you up on your offer, and we'd see where it went from there. And just when I had gotten myself straight . . . Gina showed up."

"Wow" was all Richard could manage. "I never knew . . . I mean, all I had really wanted was some kind of company at the Hamptons so it wouldn't be me looking at four walls in dead silence whenever the keyboard tapping stopped; someone to talk with when they felt like talking, after they had selected whatever form of relaxation that worked for them. But then the writer boys had needled me so bad during the poker game, I called Gina to tell her the truth about how much time it was really gonna take to finish the manuscript; and we got to talking . . . and well, you know the rest."

"Yeah, I know the rest. I was so mad at myself for the bad timing. And then when Captain Montgomery heard the outcome of the case; and concluded that it was a sad situation that someone had to actually die because the rest were just too scared to come out and admit their true feelings . . . I knew it was time for me to put up or shut up. Just like now Richard Castle . . . don't think I don't know what you're up to."

"Whoa . . . what am I up to?", he responded, somewhat surprised the change in her demeanor.

"Come on writer boy . . . I know you're in collusion with Dr. Burke somehow, and this whole cruise thing has something to do with it. But let's talk about that tomorrow. Get yourself ready for bed and I'll do the same. Then you can make me feel loved. How about that?"

"That sounds just fine to me", he replied as he headed toward the bathroom.

Meanwhile, Kate found her log book and began the entries for the evening.

_A/N: I have always liked when certain songs get woven into a screen play. I think that was well done in the show, so I decided to take it one step further and use it to call up memories, since that tends to happen in real life for many of us. A little exercise in evocation. Do you think it worked? (FYI, those scenes being recalled were covered in canon and in chapters 4 & 5 of my version 'In Death Do Us Partners'.)_

_To be continued._


	26. Chapter 26

_A/N: It's show time. I'm sure all of you who followed the show remember Castle's remark when the male members of the team were about to embark for Atlantic City, NJ. The episode was Heartbreak Hotel, where Castle declared: to never let something like a murder investigation get in the way of having a good time. That one moment is what inspired this whole cruise scenario._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Castle – all credit goes to Andrew Marlow and the writing team for ABC's Castle; my thanks to them for providing a foundation for this little exercise._

**Chapter 26**

Richard was only half-awake; wondering if he was still dreaming or was he actually hearing Kate's voice as he bobbed in and out of reality.

"Castle, what is this?", Kate demanded as she stood next to the bed, after having retrieved a white envelope that someone had been slid under the door sometime in the wee hours of the morning.

"Hmmm . . . What is what?", he murmured.

"This!", she exclaimed, as she shoved it closer to his half-closed eyes, as if that was somehow going to help him answer the question. "I found it under the door when I got up to answer nature's call."

"I don't know. Maybe it's the bill. Hey, look at the bright side", he continued to murmur, "at least the folio printout was small enough to fit under the door . . . that's a good thing."

"Castle stop being funny. It's addressed to me."

"That's OK, if it's the bill, you can pay it, since it's addressed to you", he quipped with a sleepy voice and a half-smirk rippling across his face. "But I didn't think they delivered the bill until the morning we dock."

"Enough! I know you have something to do with this", she replied.

"Kate, you haven't even opened it yet. Why do you assume I have something to do with it?", he countered. "Why don't you just open it and read it . . . and we can be in on it together?", he questioned as he forced himself to become fully awake. She complied:

To: Ms. K. H. Beckett . . . You've got talent! At least we think you do. That's why we're inviting you to participate in our shipboard talent show. Please RSVP by attending the rehearsal today at 1:00 PM at the shipboard theater, backstage. Please bring your dancing shoes and the partner of your choice for the show. We're looking forward to seeing you there. Cordially, Raymond Stark, Entertainment Coordinator.

"Castle! What strings did you pull this time to make this happen?", she wanted to know.

"Hey, wait a minute! If I recall correctly, and my sore leg muscles can attest to it, it was _all you _out there on the disco floor. I was just along for the ride. Apparently you got us noticed", he countered with his version of a defense attorney. So are we gonna go? Come on. It'll be fun!", he added with his best upbeat voice.

"Fun indeed", she quipped as she grabbed his cell phone off the nightstand and began to enter the unlock code.

"What are you doing?"

"Oh, just checking something", she remarked as she concentrated on unlocking his phone. "Let's see . . . T_O_T_E_K_B. Yep that worked", she stated with a triumphant tone as the phone unlocked and she began to scroll through his call history. "You know you should probably be a little more cryptic with your passwords instead of basing them on dedications in your books; especially when you're trying to protect things like nuclear launch codes and stuff like that", she teased as she tossed the phone in his direction.

"Find what you were looking for?", he questioned back, catching the phone just in time, and becoming a little irritated; more because of how easily she had figured out his password than anything else.

"Yes, and no", she replied, again teasing him. "I'm both surprised and pleased that you haven't been in cahoots with Dr. Burke since we've been on the cruise."

"Why Kate Beckett! Shame on you for thinking I've been in cahoots with Dr. Burke", he quipped, with his smirk now firmly in place. "Let's go get breakfast. I mean let's get dressed first, and then go get breakfast."

"Aren't you forgetting something? Like maybe two miles before breakfast?", she continued teasing.

"Well that depends . . . if you're not going to participate in the show, we do the two miles; but if it has crossed your mind to attend that rehearsal, then I'd say we skip the two miles and do the two-step . . ."

"Oh wow, the writer has become the comedian all of the sudden . . . let's go to breakfast", she countered.

"All too easy . . .", Castle muttered in his best Darth Vader voice impersonation after he had closed the bathroom door and turned on the water.

One o'clock arrived rather quickly. Kate and Richard were met by a gaggle of show girls; all sleek, sexy twenty-somethings, in top physical condition, looking for their big break in show business. The shipboard gig wasn't it, but it was sure a good thing to have on the resume. There were also three other couples that had been selected out of the pool of disco attendees for the dance number that had been planned. Kate noted that there were also the karaoke finalists as well. Finally the emcee came over, along with Mr. Stark; and both offered a grand welcome and a big thank-you for deciding to participate.

"Ms. Beckett", the emcee effused. "So glad to meet you . . . and of course your fiancé, Mr. Castle. Listen, we have a slight problem I wonder if you could help us out . . .", he continued as he glanced at Richard Castle and then shifted his eyes back to Kate. "Ms. Beckett, would it be OK with you to participate in two parts for the show?"

Kate acquiesced to perform both parts. The dance couples spent some twenty minutes getting used to the floor space and the dance number that had been selected. Richard had asked the dance director how everyone coped with the movement of the ship because he was worried about losing his balance and suffering a huge embarrassment. And while he made a big deal about it being his clumsiness, he was really worried about Kate's fear of messing up in public. The director showed them a little trade secret on how to counter a near fall. They practiced it several times. Then the director sneaked up on each of the couples as they were concentrating on the dance moves and gave one of the partners a shove to put them off balance, just to see if they could handle it. The couples were told to practice the recovery methods at least twenty or more times over the course of the afternoon before the show. And if one should happen to fall; well, that one did what every other human in show business had to do; get up, keep going, and pretend absolutely nothing happened. After all, this was just a dance number using regular shoes; perhaps they would like to try dancing and figure skating at the same time? With that challenge clearly in mind, everyone felt much more comfortable with their present situation. Afterwards, the attendees watched while the showgirls performed a song and dance medley. Finally, the karaoke contestants practiced their selected numbers so as to get the feel of the live orchestra. The technicians also worked behind the scenes to get the sound just right. Satisfied, the director gave them all drink vouchers and sent them on their way.

The show was a special matinée the next afternoon, which had been announced in the shipboard activities flyer that every room received each morning; announced again at breakfast, put on the billboards in front of the theater, and in a dozen other places on the ship. Somehow everyone knew that Richard Castle and Kate Beckett were going to be part of it. When the time came, it was standing room only. As the warm-up acts were in progress, the director reminded everybody of the other trade secret that she was sure everyone already knew – don't look at the crowd – look at your partner; the key was to remember that when you got out there. It seemed that before they could give that any more thought or worry, each heard their names and out into the bright lights they strolled.

Everything went off without even the smallest hiccup. The worries about the ship's movement had been unnecessary. The seas had been smooth, but just to make sure, the Captain had ordered ahead one-half for the duration of the show. It would be easy enough to make up the time in seas that calm. When it had all ended, Mr. and Mrs. Wurtzman, from somewhere in Pennsylvania, celebrating their twentieth anniversary, had placed first in the dance competition Kate and Richard were announced in second place. Kate once again stole the show in the karaoke numbers. She keenly felt the heat of the spotlights and some thirty-five hundred pairs of eyes on her as she took the bow. But that wasn't the end of it. Still backstage as the audience was exiting the theater, Mr. Stark had one more request.

"Mr. Castle . . . and Ms. Beckett, I was wondering if the two of you could do us a favor", he began. "The concierge desk has been inundated with requests for autographs. The cruise director has decided that we'd like to give the patrons what they want, but that depends on you both", he said politely. "I've taken the liberty of setting up a venue outside . . . that is if it's alright", he concluded sheepishly.

Richard looked at Kate, who returned the look with an expression of 'I should have guessed'.

"Well, let's do this", he said as if he were about to go on a dangerous mission. "There is one new condition I'm putting on all my book signings starting now . . . I will no longer be signing any body surfaces", he added as he sent a hopeful glance in Kate's direction. "Will you please make sure that's understood", he directed toward Mr. Stark.

"Your wish is my command", Mr. Stark answered back as if he were bowing to royalty. "Then it's a good thing I had several cases of your latest title loaded at the last minute, when I found out you were on the guest list."

"Are you making folks pay for those?", Castle asked in dismay.

"Well that was the plan, we've got to cover expenses you know", Mr. Stark replied, now much more serious.

"No, no, let's not do it that way. Here's my proposition: you can 'sell' the books, but the money you charge goes into the pool for tips to all of the service staff. You agree to that, we've got a deal", Castle stated flatly.

About ten minutes later the large crowd in the main lobby broke into wild applause as Kate and Richard made their grand entrance and took seats at a small table piled high with his books. An announcement had been made, and passed through the crowd, that autographs would be made only on paper; if one had their own copy of a Castle book, a flyer, a program, a cocktail napkin, or would like to donate the cover price of a new book as a tip to the service staff, one could get a signature. About an hour and a half later, the books were gone, and the satisfied crowd began to disband.

"Castle, my hand is killing me . . . how can you do this when you go on one of your book-signing tours?", Kate asked as she massaged her fingers and wrist.

"Told you it would be a good idea to decide in advance . . .", he began.

"Shut-up", was all she said in reply.

"Well, I still have this drink voucher . . ." he said, changing the subject. "How about we go sit at the piano bar and listen to the piano man for a little while?"

"As long as neither of us start singing something about a piano man, then I'm game", she replied, slipping her arm in his as they began walking in that direction.

_A/N: To be continued. (I had a number of things I still wanted to cram into this narrative, but it seems to be coming to its natural finish – so I'm not going to fight it – or rather, ruin it.) Just a couple of chapters to go._


	27. Chapter 27

_A/N: The fun and games are over. Kate still has some serious therapy yet to go, as we shall see._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Castle – all credit goes to Andrew Marlow and the writing team for ABC's Castle; my thanks to them for providing a foundation for this little exercise._

**Chapter 27**

Alexis was plenty stressed. She had been through it all before, but the past experiences did not make this set of mid-term exams any easier to handle. She pushed the thoughts of jealous indignation due to her father and her future mother taking it easy on a cruise out of her mind and concentrated on dynamic flow equations pertaining to her Ocean Dynamics exam that was going to occur in only a few hours. She had been up since five o'clock AM and the ten o'clock exam seemed to be coming at her like a freight train – slowly, surely, and impossible to stop. She and a certain male study partner had been drilling on the material for the test over the past several days, when they weren't out taking still other tests for the other classes. They had become quite close as a result. Still another thing that could mess up a test. She had to make sure she wasn't sitting anywhere where she could easily see him because that would surely make her mind wander. She had planned on remaining at the back of the classroom while being as inconspicuous as possible; hiding from his searching look; and after he got seated, taking one of the last available desks just before the exam was to start. The plan had worked.

Apparently, their collective study efforts had paid off. They were among a small group of students that finished early.

"Hey Alexis! I was looking all over for you", Steve began as he caught up with her farther down the hallway. "I though you skipped out."

"Me . . . Moi, skipped a mid-term? I thought you knew me better than that", she quipped as she flipped her hair at him in mock disgust. "BTW, thanks again for helping me understand those flow equations . . . turned out to be a pretty simple problem don't you think?"

"Yeah, I was surprised there wasn't something more like those last homework problems we got . . . but I'm darn glad it wasn't any worse than those", he stated between breaths.

"Well, since that was the last one for a few more weeks, I think we should go celebrate. Oh, but before we do, I have a question for you. Would you like to come with me tomorrow morning over to the cruise ship terminal? My dad, and future mom are getting back, and I figured we could be there as a welcome home surprise", Alexis explained.

"You want me to come", Steve questioned hesitantly.

"Sure, why not? Neither of us has class until 1:00 PM", Alexis reasoned.

"Well, if you want me to, I'll be happy to join you", he responded, feeling a little more relieved.

"You know come to think of it, we've never really talked much about our parents or families. You know who my dad is, don't you?", she concluded with a question. He looked back at her blankly.

"Should I?", was his simple question.

"Umm, you know me as Alexis Rogers . . . what if I told you I'm AKA as Alexis Castle?", she responded. He looked at her even more puzzled than before. "I take it you've never had time to read paperbacks just for enjoyment", she remarked.

"Uh, no, reading for pleasure isn't my strong suite. Not even during summer vacations. There always seemed to be too much pressure to get good grades on everything", he went on to explain.

"I'm sorry to hear that", Alexis began. "I know about the pressure to get good grades, but in my case, it's always been self-imposed. I guess it's different coming from others, huh?"

"I don't really know. I just learned to deal with it. So what about your dad?", he questioned.

"I'm going to save that for tomorrow. You come with me, you'll find out", she concluded. "Now let's go find something for our celebration.

Apparently everyone got the secret memo. Since Richard and Kate could afford the VIP treatment, they were among the first group off the ship and found a small welcoming committee. Ryan and Esposito had invented a reason to leave the precinct, saying that some new evidence had turned up on the latest case and they had to go run it down. Fortunately Captain Gates did not know the return date of the cruise; otherwise she wouldn't have bought into the ruse. Dr. Parish and Dr. De Torres had also found a reason to leave the ME's office on some so-called errands; and Alexis with Steve in tow were on hand as planned. And to everyone's surprise, due to the rather early hour of the morning, even Martha and Gina had shown up. In the past, Kate might have thought that to be too much attention, but after her cruise therapy it was nothing. It was a good thing too because out of the corner of his eye, Richard saw a crew from the NY Ledger assembling further up the walkway. They were going to have to run the gauntlet. At least there was an opportunity for everyone to share welcome-back hugs and conversation first. Alexis introduced Steve to what she considered her family group.

It as only after the NY Ledger crowd enveloped Kate and Richard that Steve Tommelson finally realized who Alexis Castle's father was.

"Your father is a famous, NY Times bestseller author! I should have known. I've seen his likeness on those stand-up poster board ads they have in the bookstore windows. "Yep, that's definitely him!"

"I thought you didn't read", Alexis quipped.

"Like I said, I don't. But that doesn't mean I'm blind", he quipped back.

After they shook the publicity crowd at the dock, they all met up in mid-town and enjoyed some coffee and sticky buns before each had to go their separate ways. Esposito of all people had called ahead and made the arrangements. Even Dr. Parish remarked that the coffee was really good, which wasn't lost on Kate even for an instant. Apparently, Dr. De Torres had some influence over his new girlfriend because last time Kate had checked, she could not recall ever seeing Lanie put a cup of coffee to her lips.

As Kate and Richard transitioned from Island time to Manhattan time, Kate remembered the appointment she had made with Dr. Burke. Gina had asked Kate's permission to take up Richard's time the following morning to cover the necessary business of the book writing and publishing process. Kate stepped into Dr. Burke's office precisely at 9:00 AM. Dr. Burke ushered he straight back to the session room.

"I trust you had an enjoyable time", Dr. Burke began with a smile as he received four little purse-sized notebooks, which comprised her log entries of the events that triggered her phobia.

"Well yes, thank-you. I mean, apart from what's entered in those", she remarked as she made herself comfortable. "Would you please tell me the truth, did you and Castle plan all of that?"

"No, we didn't. It appears he did. I only approved the idea, and as you've requested, to be truthful, I wasn't on board with it at first", he replied. "I'm going to give you a few minutes to mentally review the stressful events, and I want you to tell me if the coping mechanisms are helping each one progressively. Meanwhile I'm going to read your log entries."

After some forty-five minutes discussing the entries, Kate had decided that the worst of it was standing there like some celebrity during the book signing with everyone craning their necks to get a better look at her. Yes, they like looking at Castle, but they liked looking at Nikki Heat better.

"OK", concluded Dr. Burke, "we'll change a couple of things here so that you can specifically work on being viewed as Nikki Heat. But there is another side to this which is not going to be nearly as enjoyable as the shipboard therapy session you've just completed." Kate gave him a questioning look. "There is a program I've learned about down in Quantico, VA", he began. "It's specifically for recovery from PTSD with complicating factors, such as your case. Security and police personnel, as well as some in the armed forces are enrolled. The class size is limited to twelve people. The duration is two weeks and it's a total immersion type therapy. You will report next Monday at 0800."

"Next Monday . . . that's so soon", she stammered.

"Kate, sorry for the short notice, but these sessions fill up very rapidly, and the next available opening would not be until late December", Dr. Burke explained. "I felt it better to make your medical leave contiguous. So with your permission, I'll inform Captain Gates of the plan and your expected whereabouts."

Alexis and Steve were invited to the Castle loft for dinner on the Saturday before Kate's departure. It turned out to be a great visit. Each one wished the evening could have gone on much later but there were other chores still be done the next morning. After the visit, Steve was even happier to have met Alexis. He hoped things might get more serious, but he also had the good sense to know that finishing the degree each one was pursuing had first place at the moment. He could tell that anything that might derail Alexis from her self-imposed goals would end in a disaster as far as the relationship was concerned.

About a week into Kate's mandatory therapy in Quantico, Dr. Burke gave Richard a call. He explained that the attendees received some pretty heavy operand conditioning, each one specifically designed for that individual's circumstances. Castle was surprised to learn that it was not one size fits all. With PTSD coupled with an induced phobia, there could be no such thing as one size fits all. Dr. Burke had received the first week's results and wanted to inform Castle about a new behavior that he was going to have to put up with, perhaps for the rest of his days together with Kate. He explained that in Kate's particular case, she would be trained to hesitate for 15 – 30 seconds before entering a large, open, and crowded area. She was going to just stop, step to the side out of the flow of people and study the area. Castle was not to prod her or ask what the problem was. His best option, when he found that she had fallen behind, was to also stop ahead of her and stand to one side, and to not block her view of the area. When she caught up with him, they would continue on together, no questions asked. He could expect this in places like airports, perhaps subway stations, shopping malls, just before getting on or just after getting off escalators, and the like. There was no formula. It was a function of what Kate might be feeling or experiencing at the time. It was a conditioned response so that she could mentally process an 'all clear' just as they did after securing a crime scene. Castle understood perfectly. If there was one thing he wanted more than anything in the world, he didn't know what it was except that he'd like to see Kate fixed as good as new.

_A/N: To be continued. Next chapter will be the last._


	28. Chapter 28

_A/N: A new and improved Kate Beckett returns to work._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Castle – all credit goes to Andrew Marlow and the writing team for ABC's Castle; my thanks to them for providing a foundation for this little exercise._

**Chapter 28**

The main concourse at Amtrak's Penn Station on 34th street was in its usual cyclical madness the Sunday afternoon of Kate's expected arrival. The station handled more than ten million travelers each year. Between groups of trains, the place could be downright tranquil – almost empty in fact; but when several scheduled departures and arrivals occurred back-to-back, the place became a madhouse. Richard could easily see why it would be a good testing ground for Kate's new coping mechanisms. Richard had been informed she was booked on Train #140, the Northeast Regional out of Washington DC's Union Station. It appeared that the train was going to arrive on time. He stationed himself near one end of the concourse where he could observe all of the passengers exiting that track; that was if the crowds didn't get too thick. Kate, as usual still seemed to be the first one through the door – at least that hadn't changed. She was among the first group of passengers on the escalator; and as he had been told to expect, just as soon as she reached the top, she quickly stepped to one side and stopped, luggage in hand. Castle watched closely. Normally she would be looking for him or any familiar face for that matter, but this was new. She appeared to gaze about the crowd; not in a paranoid sense as if she expected a sniper to be among them; but rather in a tranquil sense. Richard timed the sequence. Just about eighteen seconds. Pretty short for someone just out of training Richard thought to himself. Maybe it would become shorter still as time went on.

The transition was abrupt. After the time-out, Kate began a serious scan of the crowded area, looking for Richard and maybe Alexis. Richard immediately began walking in her direction. Just as soon as she saw him, she maneuvered through the crowd as only trained police personnel could do and fell into his arms.

"Castle, it's so good to see you. I've never thought I'd miss somebody so much in just two short weeks", she sighed with relief as they continued to hug one another.

"Well, they might have been two short weeks to you, but the last one seemed to have taken up the whole month from my viewpoint", Richard replied, still stroking her back. "How was the trip?"

"Fine. No big deal. I know some of the bus arrangements are almost as fast, but I think this is more relaxing", she stated as she held out her train ticket.

"Well, let's get you home. We can talk about the details without the crowds around", he said soothingly. She simply nodded in agreement. "It's a beautiful afternoon, do you want to walk the few blocks from the subway to the loft, or shall we take a taxi?"

"Taxi. The subway can wait for tomorrow morning", she replied calmly. "Besides, I'm exhausted. The program may not have been in the jurisdiction of the Marine Corps, but they sure as heck ran it like that. We were up at O'dark-thirty every morning whether there was something going on or not. Even today. All I had to do was get my exit papers and board the bus from Quantico to Washington."

Dr. Burke received the final report on Kate's progress around noon the Friday before. He was pleased with the results; so much so, that he decided to allow her to return to active duty. With that in mind, he called Captain Gates and informed her that he was requesting a debriefing session with the Captain and Kate's homicide team at three o'clock PM. After Gates' grumbling and growling regarding such short notice, and that she had a precinct to run, it was agreed upon. While waiting for Kate's team to report, he went over the therapy outcome report in detail. He was glad that Kate had been truthful (for once) in recording her feelings and reactions at the onset of each phobia incident. This had been extremely helpful to the therapy team in Quantico in that they were able to isolate the exact stimulus with a predictable and repetitive emotion or physical sensation; and from there it was a matter of inducing a response coupled with the operand conditioning. Kate, being the fast learner that she was, had been making significant progress after only two sessions. If Lanie Parish could have known that the sensation was almost identical to the one Kate had experienced at seeing Castle's poster board stand-up likeness in the bookstore window that one September morning, she could have pinpointed the whole problem years ago. Little wonder why Kate always seemed to respond that her relationship with Castle was 'Complicated'. Lanie had always referred to them as 'Water Lilies' moments and assumed they were because she had the hots for Richard Castle and just wouldn't admit it, even to herself. Fortunately, the 'Water Lilies' moments were exactly because she had the hots for Castle, but later, when the PTSD moments surfaced they felt almost the same from a physiological standpoint. It made sense that she began to run from the man she loved. What torture. Dr. Burke tipped his proverbial hat to the team down in Quantico for effectively separating the two events.

Dr. Burke, who was about as tired of Captain Gates as the majority of the precinct was, kept a stern and formal demeanor with the team.

"Thanks for coming on such short notice. I know you all have pressing work to do. That's why I think you'll be glad to know that on Monday, you will be getting your other team member back" Dr. Burke began. Gates reacted with mild surprise at the announcement while Esposito and Ryan sat there grinning ear-to-ear and said nothing.

Dr. Burke went on to relate how the new Kate Beckett was going to react under certain situations.

"That sounds like an impediment to me", interrupted Gates. "I mean, if she has to do that when she's chasing down a suspect, I doubt any arrests will ever be made."

"With all due respect Captain", began Dr. Burke, "I've read dozens of arrest reports where Detective Beckett was the arresting officer, and I've never seen a case where she's hesitated. Now true, at the peak of her PTSD, she could not fire the service weapon, but the pursuit was not affected. And as you know, the service weapon issue seems to have been corrected." Gates nodded in agreement, yet still wore a dubious look. Dr. Burke turned to Ryan and Esposito. "I've read the reports like everyone else. If there is something missing in any of those, now would be a very, and I might emphasize VERY, good time to say so. Has Kate Beckett, ever hesitated to pursue a suspect or person of interest in your experience with her at the 12th precinct?"

The grins vanished. Each though about the hundreds of cases where Kate had been involved; even as a rookie, before ever meeting Richard Castle. After a long pause, they truthfully said they couldn't think of any such incidents.

"That's what I mean Captain", Dr. Burke continued. "Detective Beckett's drive during the pursuit seems to push out the reaction to crowds or surroundings, or that Mr. Castle might be doing something unorthodox per police standards. It's only after the task is completed that she focuses on the other factors. Therefore I recommend that you try her out having completed her therapy and report back to me after one week."

They spent another twenty minutes discussing their concerns and what if's with Dr. Burke. He reminded them several times for emphasis not to prod or disturb Kate during one of her hesitation moments. It could very well be that after some time, they would cease to exist; and wouldn't the period of time the team had to endure them be worth the effort?

Once again as the elevator doors slid open to the fourth floor of the 12th precinct, and Detective Beckett passed through them, heading for Captain Gates' office, she heard applause from all those present. There was one difference, even Captain Gates joined in as she stood at the doorway to her office and motioned for Kate to come in.

"Well Detective Beckett, I understand you had a very busy medical leave", she said matter-of factly as she looked over her reading glasses at Kate.

"Yes sir. None of it went as I had expected it to", Kate replied truthfully.

"Well Detective, let's get back to work. That case involving your team's abduction is still open. The boys have not been able to close it. Why don't you light a fire under them and see if we can get our closure numbers back up where they should be? Oh, and one more thing – No, make that two more things. First, Dr. Burke wants a debriefing session with you at 12:30 PM, so you'll have to cut lunch short today; and second, where is Mr. Castle this morning?"

"Ah, Mr. Castle is doing his other nearly full-time job this week. He sends his regrets that he won't be able to participate in any police work", Kate said with a faint grin, knowing that Gates was not-so-secretly jumping for joy inside.

"OK, Detective. Dismissed", Gates replied and went back to her paperwork.

Not much later, Gates received a phone call, and that was the signal for the Kate's homicide team to hold an informal meeting in the break room.

"Well how was it?" Ryan began.

"The first part or the second part?", Kate teased.

"I think we can guess how the first part went", Esposito quipped.

"Oh there was way more to it than you'd be likely to think", Kate responded. "It was useful to be sure . . . as far as my therapy is concerned. The second part was horrible. Have either of you seen the movie "A Clockwork Orange", Kate wanted to know. "If you have, then it was partly that kind of nightmare."

The boys said they'd find time to check out the movie. Meanwhile they knew they were still on the hook for not solving the abduction case.

"I'm surprised Castle isn't chomping at the bit to dive back into it", Esposito mentioned.

"Oh, he still is. It's just that he's going to let us figure it out for once . . . unusual control over his exuberance don't you think?" Kate said.

"Did he go to therapy too", questioned Ryan with wide eyes.

"No. He didn't. Let's get to work before Gates turns on the office radar", Kate finished, as she ushered them out of the breakroom toward their desks.

After lunch Kate made her way over to Dr. Burke's office yet again. She began to wonder if she would be the one to claim the title as the one client who wore out the hallway carpet leading to his office.

Dr. Burked welcomed her into the session room as usual.

"Well today is not so much of a session as it is a closure report. I'm not going to ask you to make any follow-up appointments at this time. If something presents itself, please don't hesitate to contact me", Dr. Burke announced.

They reviewed the therapy outcome report together.

"Do you remember some time ago, after you had received your routine psych-evaluation for return to active service following the sniper attempt", Dr. Burke began quietly. "You know if you hadn't covered so many of the issues with pretending to be OK, and with well placed lies, we would have had this sorted out much sooner."

"Yes, hindsight always seems to be a perfect twenty-twenty", Kate replied. "I remember a couple of double sessions where things were really going sideways. I had told you I needed to be alright, and that I couldn't afford to get all weepy over a couple of scars on my chest. And you had told be that the NYPD was going to continue to function without my input. Of course I didn't believe you at the time. But you were right. This wasn't something easily fixed. I just hope the worst of it is over. I want to be alright. I want to be a normal woman, having a normal relationship with a man that I love; and I want to be able to do my job – really, that's all I want these days. Nothing else matters as much as that."

"Kate, if you will without fail, continue to apply all of the coping mechanisms you've been trained to use, I'm quite sure you will accomplish your goal", Dr. Burke reassured her as they exited the session room.

When Kate finished the shift, which was nothing more than a big paperwork session, she returned to the loft and found Castle at his desk still squinting at the computer.

"Either you've been at that task way too long without a break, or perhaps you better get your eyes checked", Kate remarked as she stood in the doorway. He nodded.

"You know, I've been thinking . . ." he began. ". . . thinking we might throw an impromptu Halloween Party again this year. I know there's not much time, but we can still round up all of the usual suspects on a moment's notice."

"Well, what also should know is that the last time everyone came and could stay for the duration was due to some alignment in your little universe that didn't cause emergency call-ins for half the guests. You may not have the same good fortune this time", she said, reminding him that most of their friends were in the public sector.

"OK, point taken. Maybe we should discuss something even more serious", he said in a lowered voice, as if he didn't want the universe to know what he was thinking.

The universe cocked its figurative eyebrow at them as they found their way over to the living room sofa and began to discuss their collective future.

_A/N: Well that's it! I hope everyone's stomachs recovered as the ride smoothed out. I started the first 17 chapters or so with an outline. Then the whole thing seemed to take on a life of its own from there forward. I also learned that it's a difficult thing to be writing your own narrative, and at the same time, be reading several other posts as they come up. Now I can relax and enjoy some of the other contributors' work. _

_There will be a third book in this series. Another AU. I will not let the Lok-Sat botched wedding as written in the canon go uncorrected. It's gonna take me some time to come with something to make that whole event worth writing about. And let's not forget the Alexis and Steve thing as well as the Lanie and De Torres thing that has been set up in this AU._

_I hope you all have enjoyed this take on the difficulty with fixing Kate Beckett. Phobias have absolutely no logic, and the reactions, as we have seen in Kate's character, can appear to be just petty meanness and dumb excuses. Kate's reprise conversation with Dr. Burke was the recollection of what went on in Chapter 15 of 'In Death Do Us Partners'. It was my aim to show they had a cause and were not fundamental to her character. Castle, as patient as ever, even comes close to his breaking point. The meeting of Castle's women was a prompt (more or less) from my son; and as you may have gathered, I was going to use Alexis' graduation as the means to accomplish it (and still will), but the conflict developed so acutely I found a way to get Meredith in the right place at the right time to accomplish another task. _

_Thanks again all you readers, guests, and reviewers. Your input matters to me. I'm still a novice and I'll take help wherever I can get it. _

_Until next time . . ._


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